


The Two Towers

by rokeat



Series: The Lord of the rings [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Blam, M/M, Not Kurt Friendly, Not Rachel Friendly, yeah I know it's still crazy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-09-26 22:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9924455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rokeat/pseuds/rokeat
Summary: While Kitty and Marley try to reach the mount of Doom to destroy the ring, Sam, Blaine and Sebastian try to save Marley from the army or orcs they thinkg took her away. Neither one of those parties can imagine all the perils they will have to confront on their mission. BLAM.





	1. Keeping with their missions

**Author's Note:**

> Well, thank you all for your support! I didn't know there were so many people reading this nonesense! But please, let me know you're reading every now and then, otherwise it gets very lonely and makes you wonder if there is someone out there :)
> 
> So part two is here! Hope you like it too!

Kitty and Marley were walking on circles, they could feel it. They could see Mordor in the horizon, but they couldn’t find the way to get closer to it, even if they had been walking for three days.

“Mordor. The one place in Middle-Earth we don’t want to see any closer, and it’s the one place we’re trying to get to. It’s just where we can’t get. Let’s face it, Madam Kitty: we are lost” Marley said what they hadn’t dared to admit until then.

Kitty knew she was right, but she refused to give up. She knew the destiny of the Middle-Earth was resting on her shoulders as the Ring-bearer, and she didn’t want to let everyone down. The load of her mission, though, was getting heavier and heavier by the minute, and she even felt a sharp pain on her head when she looked at Mordor with the Ring hanging from a chain around her neck, something that didn’t go unnoticed to her faithful friend.

“It’s the Ring, isn’t it?” Marley asked, worried about Kitty.

“It’s getting heavier” was the only thing she answered, knowing Marley would understand what she was referring to.

The journey was becoming much more difficult that they would have ever imagined when they left the Shire what it seemed like centuries ago.

**********

“Their pace has quickened” Sam informed his two travelling companions, while putting his ear to the ground and trying to listen the vibrations of the steps of the orcs they were pursuing. “They must have caught our scent. Hurry!” he jumped from the floor and started running again, not before placing a gentle caress on Blaine’s cheek, to which the elf responded with a smile.

“Come on, Sebastian!” Blaine shouted to his back, noticing how the Dwarf kept falling behind due to his dwarvish poor shape.

“Three days and nights pursuit” Sebastian complained, when he saw the man and the elf starting to run again even before he had caught up with them. “No food, no rest, and no sign of our quarry, but what bare rock can tell”

“Come on, Sebastian, stop complaining. Save your energy for running, it’s obvious you need it” Blaine joked over his shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from Sam. He was glad to see Blaine in good spirits in spite of everything, and was very happy to see the close friendship developing between the elf and the dwarf, something he would have thought impossible just some weeks ago –yet, it was difficult not to fall for Blaine’s generous nature and easy smile, even with centuries of hatred between their two people.

“It’s obvious I...?” Sebastian grumbled with mock anger. “Wait ‘till I get my hands on you, you conceited elf!”

“At least I made you run faster!” Blaine retorted cheekily, and even Sebastian couldn’t help but to laugh wholeheartedly at the young elf’s insolence.

**********

The long days of walking, climbing slopes and eating very little by hobbit standards, were taking their toll on Kitty and Marley, who just curled close to each other, underneath the magical cloaks that they had been provided by the elves of Loth Lorien, and slept for a while.

But they were not alone. The creature that had been following them even before they made it to Rivendell from the Shire was alert, and had been for days, now they didn’t have the whole fellowship to protect them. And now they were asleep and unaware, it was a very good occasion to steal the thing she was obsessed with.

“The thieves, the filthy little thieves. Where is it?” he mumbled, talking to himself, as he crept on them slowly, careful so as not to wake them. “They stole it from us, my precious. We wants it!” and with that he jumped on them.

Kitty and Marley, though, had not been really asleep, and were very conscious of the presence of the creature, so they jumped from the floor and started fighting. Rachel, though, was very strong, and desperation guided her, so she jumped on Kitty and threw her to the ground, with the only purpose of stealing the Ring from her neck. Marley, though, was not intending to let her attack her friend, so she grabbed Rachel around her neck to separate her from Kitty.

Rachel, though, was not a creature to give up easily, and now it was her who grabbed Marley’s neck strongly, not even letting her breathe properly, until Kitty took out her sword and aimed it directly at Rachel’s throat.

“This is Sting. You’ve seen it before, haven’t you, Rachel?” she asked Rachel, threateningly. “Release her or I’ll cut your throat”

Rachel, seeing she had been defeated, could only start crying as if she was a child, hoping compassion would help her.

**********

After three full days and nights without stopping for a second, Sam and Blaine were aware that Sebastian wouldn’t be able to keep up with their pace for much longer –even Sam was starting to feel tired–, so they decided to camp for the night, and searched for a secluded place to spend the night as safely as possible.

They only had some lembas elvish bread to eat, that they had being carrying since Loth Lorien, but it felt great on their empty stomachs. They ate in companionable silence, and it was not much later when Sebastian’s snores could be heard all around the camp, to which Blaine could only smile fondly.

The only good thing that had come of their new situation was that it would be easier for the lovers to find some moments to be together, as there was only Sebastian to fool and he tended to sleep very soundly. So when they were sure Sebastian was not going to wake up –the exhaustion the Dwarf must be feeling was on their side–, Sam sat on the floor, in front of Blaine, resting his back on a rock, and patted his own thigh playfully in an inviting gesture for Blaine to rest his head on his lap, which he very willingly did, and Sam lovingly caressed his head as they chatted.

“If we survive this war and succeed in freeing the Middle-Earth from the power of Sauron... Do you think the people of Gondor will accept me?” After a while of meaningless talk, Blaine decided to share a thought that kept invading his mind, worrying him beyond measure.

“Of course they will! How could anyone not want you?” Sam answered, being completely incapable of imagining someone rejecting a creature like Blaine.

“Well, I don’t think they’ll be expecting a male elf as the King’s spouse...” he mumbled, really worried about their future, as he couldn’t imagine spending it away from Sam, but he didn’t want to be an obstacle for him to fulfil his destiny either.

Sam smiled sympathetically at Blaine, his sweet Blaine, always worrying about the future, always putting Sam’s welfare above his one... He extricated his legs from underneath Blaine’s upper body and chose to lay at his side instead, thrusting his elbow on the ground to rest his head on his hand and caressing Blaine’s cheek with his free hand, looking at him intently in the eye.

“Love, they won’t even be expecting a King, so it will just be another surprise to add to the list”

“But what if they don’t accept me?” Blaine insisted, lowering his gaze out of fear for the future, but Sam tenderly grabbed his chin to force him to look at him.

“Then I’ll just have to renounce to the throne, won’t I?” Sam told him, completely honest.

“No! I wouldn’t let you do that! The people of Gondor need you!”

“And you need me too, same as I need you. If Gondor can’t see that...”

“I won’t fight against your destiny”

“My destiny is being with you, and no war or throne will ever change that. And besides, why are we worrying about something that is not going to happen? As soon as they know you like I do, they’ll love you just as I do” Sam told him lovingly, playing with the hair on Blaine’s forehead.

Blaine smiled widely, too moved by Sam’s words to say anything. He lifted his upper body from the floor and captured Sam’s lips in a chaste kiss, just before giving him a mischievous smile this time.

“I hope they don’t get to love me the same way you do” Blaine told him, eliciting a big laugh from Sam that he had to silence as best he could so as not to wake Sebastian.

“You little evil creature” he told Blaine as he encircled Blaine’s waist with his arm and gave him a much deeper and hungry kiss, that Blaine returned willingly while enveloping Sam’s neck with his arm.

When the kiss broke, Blaine looked at Sam’s eyes, who was looking back at him adoringly, and felt so loved and so secure that it was hard to believe they were in the middle of a war.

“I don’t want you to give everything up just because of me, if it comes to that” Blaine told him, his eyes full of a sadness that Sam hated.

“Says the elf who gave away his immortality for me” Sam replied equally sadly, as he wasn’t still comfortable with the idea.

“That’s different, because there was not a whole country depending on my decision”

“And why should I care about a country that doesn’t accept you? My priority will always be you”

“I love you so much” Blaine shakily told him trying not to shed the tears that were threateningly filling his eyes.

“Not as much as I love you” Sam answered with a big smile as he gently pushed Blaine to the ground and climbed fully on top of him to hungrily devour his mouth again, all the way spreading caresses all along the elf’s body, eliciting soft sights from the elf.

“What if we wake Sebastian up?” Blaine asked when Sam’s lips finally gave him the chance to talk.

“Can’t you hear his snores? I pretty much doubt a whole army of orcs marching by his side would be able to wake him” Sam joked as he moved his kisses to Blaine’s neck, loving the feeling of the elf’s soft skin against his lips, at the same time that he felt the elf’s hand making its way into the small of his back. “You just try not to be as loud as that time at your place we were almost caught by your father himself. I thought I was going to die when I had to hide under the bed!”

Blaine couldn’t help it and burst out laughing, to which Sam covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to muffle the noise.

“See? Noisy elf...” he scolded his lover playfully, as he replaced his hand over Blaine’s mouth with his lips.

“I would say you were partly to blame too, as you’re the one who causes my loudness” Blaine mumbled against Sam’s lips, eliciting a groan from him as the elf’s hand reached past the waistband of his trousers.

“And you don’t know how proud that makes me feel” Sam answered, now being the one bringing out a guttural sound from his lover when he gently bit his sensitive earlobe.

Sebastian’s snores ended with a deep sight, to which Blaine and Sam abruptly stopped any loving intercourse and Sam brought his finger to his lips to indicate the need to remain silent. They remained as still and quiet as possible, even forgetting to breathe, until Sebastian rolled over himself to let out the loudest snore and kept sleeping as soundly as ever.

Blaine covered his mouth with his own hand this time when he felt the giggles coming, and Sam smiled at his lover’s ingenuous happiness, so clearly shown in his eyes.

“That was close” Blaine said with laughter in his voice.

“Maybe we should just stop it” Sam suggested, but Blaine was having none of that.

“If you think you’re going to leave me like this, you’ve got another thing coming” Blaine answered, making them roll until they had reversed their positions and he was straddling his lover around his hips.

“Someone’s feeling playful tonight” Sam joked, but his hands were already making their way across Blaine’s thighs.

“I’ll try not to be too loud, though I can’t really promise” Blaine told him mischievously as he started unbuttoning Sam’s shirt slowly, making sure to caress Sam’s skin all the way, a procedure that was fastening Sam’s breath considerably.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way” Sam told him with a voice full of desire, as he grabbed the back of Blaine’s head to bring him down to him and kissed him as if it would be the last time, while he started getting rid of Blaine’s clothing too.

**********

Kitty and Marley knew they couldn’t trust Rachel to be let free, as she could try to attack them and steal the Ring any moment, so they just put Marley’s Elven rope around her neck and took her with them. Rachel, of course, was not happy at all with the solution, and kept screaming at them to plead for her freedom.

“It burns! It burns! Take it off us!” she yelled, pulling at the rope.

“Quiet, you!” Marley yelled at Rachel, angrily, and then turned to Kitty in frustration. “It’s hopeless! Every orc in Mordor’s going to hear this racket! Let’s just tie her up and leave her”

“No! That would kill us! Kill us!” Rachel protested.

“It’s no more than you deserve!”

“Maybe she does deserve to die” Kitty conceded. “But now that I see her, I do pity her”

“We be nice to them if they be nice to us. Take it off us” Rachel pleaded for them to lose the rope on her. “We swears to do what you wants, we swears!”

“There’s no promise you can make that I can trust” Kitty answered her.

“We swears to serve the bearer of the precious. We will swear on... on the precious!” he tried to convince Kitty, seeing as he had more chances than with Marley.

“The Ring is treacherous. It will hold you to your word” Kitty caved in.

“I don’t believe you!” Marley yelled at Rachel pulling at the rope to hurt her, to make sure she understood she was not being fooled, as Kitty seemed to be.

“Marley!” Kitty grabbed her, astonished at her cruelty.

“She’s trying to trick us! If we let her go she’ll throttle us in our sleep!” Marley defended herself, but Kitty didn’t want to hear her and moved to Rachel.

“You know the way to Mordor?” she asked the creature.

“Yes” Rachel answered, scared.

“You’ve been there before”

“Yes”

“You will lead us to the Black Gate” Kitty told her, making sure she understood it was not a request, but a command, and then she freed her.

**********

Next morning, the three remaining members of the fellowship started their way again, refreshed after having something to eat and having been able to rest for the night. Suddenly Sam stopped to look at some distant land.

“Rohan, home of the horse-lords” he informed the others, pointing at the land before them. “There’s something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed at these creatures, sets its will against us” he said, when he realised the orcs kept widening their distance with them even if they kept running behind them.

Blaine jumped onto some rocks to give his sight the chance of seeing further away, trying to decipher the mystery his lover was feeling.

“Blaine, what do your Elf-eyes see?” Sam asked the elf.

“The uruks turned North-East” he explained. “They’re taking Marley to Isengard!”

“Sue” Sam whispered dejectedly.


	2. Meeting the Rohirrim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, I had completely forgotten about this story! O_O

The reason Sam had felt so apprehensive at discovering where the uruk-hai were leading them to was because he knew what Sue was planning: the White Witch was on Sauron’s side, and wanted to join him on his purpose of ruling the Middle-Earth and the people in it. And her way to do it was to kill all of those ready to fight him. The first ones would be the humans of Rohan, those closer to her frontiers, and Sue had created a whole army to fight them, setting entire villages on fire and killing all their citizens.

The three travelling companions, though, were resolute about completing their quest, so they kept running behind the orcs in their attempt to save Marley from their clutches. After days and nights just running across the land, they were getting exhausted, especially Sebastian.

“Keep breathing. That’s the key: breathe!” Sebastian encouraged himself.

“They’ve run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them” Blaine observed, surprised at the perseverance of the orcs, that were being able to keep them at the same distance continually.

They didn’t know how much longer they would be able to keep like this.

**********

The three remaining members of the fellowship kept running all through the night, ignorant of the fact the Uruk-hai they were pursuing had met their fate that night to the hands of the riders of Rohan, who had slaughtered them all in vengeance for the destroyed villages.

“A red sun rises” Blaine, always observant, whispered at breakdown. “Blood has been spilled this night”

Sam was to say something when the three of them heard the unmistakable sound of horses approaching. Not knowing who they might be, Sam ran towards some rocks to hide, urging the other two with gestures to follow him. He ordered them to sit behind a big boulder and then he sat next to Blaine, practically covering him with his own body to protect him, waiting for the strangers to pass them by.

When the riders approached, Sam sighed in relief when he realised they were humans, apparently from Rohan, judging by the horses they were riding. So he just squeezed Blaine’s knee in a comforting gesture and got out of their hiding place, wanting to make their presence noticed before the riders disappeared.

“Riders of Rohan! What news from the mark?” he yelled at the retreating back of the riders, who immediately turned around to see the three friends.

The Rohirrim, not knowing who they were or if they could trust them, surrounded the three with their horses, pointing their spears at them. The three friends stood together in the middle of the circle, their backs to each other, and Sam, knowing no one would see, grabbed Blaine’s hand in his and squeezed it, trying to reassure him that everything was alright. They were men of Rohan, after all, so they had two common enemies: Sauron and Sue. They had to become allies in their War.

“What business does an Elf, a Man and a Dwarf have in the Riddermark?” the man who seemed to be the leader asked in an unfriendly way. “Speak quickly!”

“Give me your name, horse-master, and I shall give you mine” Sebastian, always prideful, answered in his characteristic cheeky way.

“I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if only so it wouldn’t stand so tall with pride” the leader of the Rohirrim threatened as he dismounted his horse and approached Sebastian menacingly.

Blaine didn’t like one bit the way this man was talking to his friend, and was willing to defend him to the last consequences. He took and arrow from his quiver, so swiftly that his bow was ready and aiming to the man before all the soldiers reacted, pointing their spears at Blaine’s head.

“You would die before your stroke fell” he said, and Sebastian felt a strange mixture of happiness at his newly found friendship with Blaine, and shame that an elf had defended him.

Sam’s heart skipped a beat at all the weapons pointed at his lover, so he rested his hand on Blaine’s extended arm holding the bow, and forced him to lower it, giving him an angry look that Blaine knew better than to ignore.

“I am Sam, son of Arathorn” Sam introduced himself, trying to be more polite than his companions. “This is Sebastian, son of Glóin, and Blaine, from the Woodland Realm. We are friends of Rohan and of Burt, your King”

“Burt no longer recognizes friend from foe. Not even his own kin, as I’m his nephew, Puck” the man answered, friendlier than before, as he took off his helmet. “Sue has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Witch is cunning. And everywhere, her spies slip past our nets”

“We are no spies” Sam was quick to deny. “We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They might have taken one of our friends captive”

“The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night” Puck informed them.

“But did you see a hobbit with them?” Sebastian asked, afraid they might be too late to help Marley.

“She would be small. Only a child to your eyes” Sam added.

“We left none alive. We pilled the carcasses and burned them” Puck explained, sadly.

“Dead?” Sebastian asked, astounded.

“I’m sorry” Puck seemed genuinely sad. Then he turned to his men. “Hasufel! Arod!” he yelled, as a couple of riderless horses were brought to him. “May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell. Look for your friend, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands”

With that, Puck directed his men to proceed their way, and left the three travelling companions behind, now with two magnificent horses that would surely make his travelling easier.

“No way I’m going to jump on a horse! Us dwarves don’t ride horses!” Sebastian exclaimed, as he was pretty obviously afraid of the animals.

“You’d prefer to run behind us, then?” Blaine joked, but before Sebastian could respond, Sam turned to them, anger clearly on his face.

“Will either one of you explain to me what was that all about?” he asked them crossly.

“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked, not having a clue as to what Sam was referring to.

“If you don’t know what I mean, I think our problem it’s even more serious than I originally thought”

“Sam, what...?” Blaine started, but Sam interrupted him rudely.

“Did you have to be so insolent as to raise them to fury to the point of almost getting us killed?”

There was so much anger in Sam’s voice that for a moment the other two remained speechless. But Blaine was not used to be in the receiving end of Sam’s anger, and felt the need to justify himself.

“And what was I supposed to do, to let them threaten Sebastian as if he was worth nothing?”

“They wouldn’t have threatened Sebastian in the first place if he hadn’t answered like he did! You two have to stop this childish behaviour if we want this quest to succeed! How can you be so stupid?” he yelled at them before angrily mounting the brown horse, Hasufel, and galloping away from them.

Blaine stood thunderstruck, unmoving, until Sebastian squeezed his shoulder sympathetically.

“Well, laddie, even if Sam is right, I wanted to thank you for... defending me. I know it must have not been easy for an elf to defend a dwarf...”

“Please, Sebastian, don’t speak nonsense” Blaine played down the importance of it, all the while trying to deal with Sam’s anger. He moved to the white horse and caressed his forehead, trying to calm his own nerves with the gesture.

“Well, Blaine, you seem to get along nicely with the horse, so I’ll let you be my riding companion” Sebastian joked, trying to make the elf feel better, feeling his desolation. “Besides, I don’t think Sam would be very keen to share with either one of us right now, so...”

Blaine helped Sebastian jump on the horse –dwarves were really not made to ride horses, after all!– and then he jumped in front of him, and they hurried so as not to fall too far behind Sam, who had slowed his pace in order for them to catch up with him, although not a word was spoken for as long as they kept riding, making Blaine’s insides churn with misery.

About three hours later, Sam stopped his horse abruptly and murmured something about letting the animals rest, before walking away from them and sitting on a rock with his back to them, lightning his pipe and starting to smoke distractedly.

Sebastian could feel the tension amongst them and, even if he didn’t like being at odds with Sam, he could sense it was far worse for the elf, so he decided to disappear for a while and let them talk whatever problems had arisen.

“I saw a little pond over there” Sebastian informed Blaine. “I’ll go and fill our canteens with fresh water”

Blaine nodded gratefully at Sebastian and watched him leave, before turning to his lover and approaching him until he was standing just a few feet from his back.

“Sammy?” he asked, hesitantly, to which only obtained an acknowledging groan from Sam. “Are you angry at me?”

“No, I’m not angry at you” Sam answered curtly, without looking at his lover.

“Are you sure?” Blaine insisted almost fearfully, feeling a distance between Sam and himself to which he wasn’t used to.

The corners of Sam’s mouth curved slightly up in spite of himself, though he refused to let Blaine see it. He needed to make a point, and he wouldn’t be able to do it if Blaine knew right away how willing he was to forgive him.

“I’m not angry, but I’m not happy either” Sam answered gravely, and Blaine lowered his gaze, sadly. He had never expected to be a disappointment to his lover.

“I’m sorry” he said, in a soft voice. Sam could hear the genuine repentance in his voice and was very near to cave in, but he stood resolute, keeping his back to his lover.

“As you should be”

“I know I shouldn’t have aimed my bow at Puck, but...”

“If you’re still trying to make excuses for your impetuousness, maybe you still have learnt nothing” Sam interrupted him, and Blaine could feel a lump forming in his throat at Sam’s discontent.

“Maybe you were right and I should have never come in such a significant quest” Blaine answered, as he turned away to go. “I’ll pack my things”

“What? Why?” Sam asked, astonished, as he jumped from the rock he was sitting and turned to look at the retreating back of his lover.

“It’s obvious you don’t think I’m ready to be a part of this and...” Blaine’s voice broke, feeling completely downcast. “I trust your better judgement in this, so I’ll just make it easy for you”

“Blaine, wait” Sam told him, and it was a request, not a command, so Blaine stopped on his tracks. “I’m not happy with what happened with the rohirrim, for reasons I already told you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you here or that I don’t appreciate all the good you have done until now”

“But you are so disappointed in me...” Blaine whispered, turning to look at him.

“No, I’m not. I just told you a little something you need to change for your own sake but that doesn’t mean I don’t value you”

“I know I did wrong, but it just felt so unfair for a dear friend to be threatened like that...”

“Do you think it was easy for me to see all these men pointing their spears at you, the one creature I love the most? No! But I still kept a cool head to avoid us being slaughtered right there!”

“I know” Blaine admitted, full of shame. “That’s why you are such a great warrior and I... shouldn’t be here”

Sam finally took pity on him and walked to him to grab his hand and squeeze it lovingly.

“One mistake doesn’t make you less of a warrior. And you’re a great combatant. But you have to understand that impulsiveness won’t get you anywhere, and even if a warrior is supposed to fight, you have to learn to pick your battles. I need you to understand that because I want you safe. We have enough enemies already, don’t look for more” Sam explained, much less angrily, as he tenderly lifted Blaine’s face with a finger under his chin.

“You’re right. I’m so sorry, Sam”

Sam smiled, this time letting his young lover see.

“You already said that”

“Then you... you don’t want me to go?”

“Of course not. As I said, it was only a mistake, and your qualities exceed your faults by far. And besides... I would miss you far too much” Sam told him lovingly, as he captured his lips in a tender kiss.

“I love you” Blaine told him when the kiss broke, with a voice full of emotion, and he enveloped him in a strong embrace that Sam gladly returned.

“I love you too, my beautiful elf” Sam whispered in his pointy ear, squeezing him strongly to reassure him nothing had changed between them, and not breaking the embrace until both of them heard the sound of someone clearing his throat approaching and they realized Sebastian had walked on them.

“No, please, don’t stop on my behalf” Sebastian told them casually, as he moved to the horses to hang the canteens on their saddles.

“Sebastian!” Sam exclaimed, embarrassed. “We were just...”

“I was asking him for his forgiveness” Blaine finished the sentence for him.

“Well, he’s clearly given it to you, hasn’t he?” Sebastian answered, as nonchalantly as before, as he fought to lift himself on Arod. “Shall we get going?”

Blaine and Sam looked at each other, astonished. Had Sebastian put two and two together and knew about them? Or it was just an innocent comment? Not knowing what to think, they decided to leave it there, and both of them lifted themselves on their horses and proceeded on their way towards the place where the Rohirrim had indicated the Uruk pyre would be.

**********

CHARACTERS:

Eomer: Puck

King Theoden: Burt Hummel


	3. The return of a dear friend

The three friends kept galloping on his newly-acquired horses –Sam on Hasufel and Blaine and Sebastian on Arod– until they reached the plain Puck had told them, where the Rohirrim had slaughtered and burnt all the uruks the night before.

The scenery was bleak, with a pyre made of bodies with smoke coming out of them still. If Marley had been with them... Sam didn’t want to end this trail of thought, but he knew it was impossible she had survived. His heart ached with grief, feeling they had failed in every aspect of their mission.

He heard Blaine shakily sending an elven prayer for Marley and only added to the pain in his heart, that he could only manage with a frustrated shout as he fell to his knees. Blaine immediately ran to him and put a hand to his shoulder, squeezing it lovingly as his other hand caressed Sam’s hair.

 _“Amin hiraetha, melamin*_ ” he whispered in Sam’s ear, reading in his eyes the guiltiness of not having been able to help their friend.

Sam put his hand over Blaine’s on his own shoulder and nodded in acknowledgment for his words, grateful at having him near, especially in moments like this. Blaine had always been a source of strength and balance for him, always giving him a new perspective on things, contributing with large doses of joy and serenity that filled Sam’s heart with peace and love. When Blaine was around, there was no space for pessimism, Sam thought. And this time was no different.

“How do we know, though, that Marley was here?” Blaine asked, with a sudden hope in his heart. “Sebastian, did you see a little body that could belong to a hobbit amongst the others?”

“In fact, I didn’t, but that doesn’t mean... Her body could have been burnt to ashes” Sebastian replied sadly.

“But we can’t be sure, can we?” Blaine said, looking at Sam imploringly, silently asking him to believe.

The corner of Sam’s mouth turned slightly up at his lover’s buoyancy. He was begging him to give hope a chance, and who was him to deny him anything?

“No, we sure can’t” Sam answered, squeezing Blaine’s hand before standing up and walking in the opposite direction they had come, looking at far away. “She could have escaped into Fangorn Forest”

“Fangorn? What madness would drive her in there?” Sebastian asked rhetorically.

**********

Meanwhile, the two hobbits were making their way to Mordor thanks to Rachel’s directions. They finally were able to get out of the mountains were they had been walking in circles for days and made it to a marshy territory that Marley, who didn’t trust Rachel one bit, didn’t like at all.

“It’s a bog! He’s lead us into a swamp!” he yelled, disgusted.

“A swamp, yes” Rachel answered. “Come, master, we will take you on safe paths through the mist. I found it, the way through the marshes. Orcs don’t use it. They go round for miles and miles”

After a lot of walking, they stopped on the swamp for a while to rest and eat the lembas they still had left.

“I hate this place” Marley commented. “It’s too quiet. There’s been no sight nor sound of a bird for two days”

“No, no birdses to eat” Rachel answered sadly. “We are famished, yes!”

Kitty took pity on her and gave her a bit of her lembas, but Rachel almost chocked on it.

“We can’t eats hobbit food!” she reproached them. “We must starve!”

“Well, starve, then. And good riddance!” Marley answered in disgust.

“Oh, cruel hobbit! She does not care if we should die!” Rachel lamented, feigning crying. “Not like master” she added, turning to Kitty. “Master cares. Master knows”

“Don’t touch me” Kitty told her as Rachel tried to touch the Ring hanging from his neck.

**********

After a while they resumed their journey through the marshes and reached a place where there were dead bodies under the water’s surface all around.

“There are dead things!” Marley exclaimed. “Dead faces in the water”

“All dead. All rotten” Rachel explained. “Elves, Men and Orcs. A great battle long ago. Don’t follow the lights” he advised the hobbits.

Kitty stopped in front of one of the corpses and saw how he opened his eyes, revealing a light that he could not help but to follow.

“Kitty!” Marley yelled, as Kitty fell into the water.

Kitty felt as if she was drowning, as she remained incapable of moving under the weight of thousands of corpses trying to grab her, until a couple of arms pulled her from the surface and she realised it had been Rachel who had gotten her out.

“Rachel” she exclaimed, surprised and grateful in equal shares.

“Don’t follow the lights” she repeated in a commanding way.

“Kitty!” Marley yelled, as she reached them. “Are you alright?”

Kitty didn’t answer as Marley fussed over her, as she was too busy thinking maybe she had underestimated Rachel, and she was someone she could trust.

**********

“The air is so close in here” Sebastian said to no one in particular, as he went deep into the scary forest of Fangorn with Blaine and Sam.

“This forest is old. Very old. Full of memory... and anger” Blaine commented, just before a loud noise coming from the trees frightened Sebastian enough to lift his axe in defence. “The trees are speaking to each other”

“Sebastian! Lower your axe!” Sam ordered, and Sebastian obeyed, though not very convinced.

“They have feelings, my friend” Blaine explained kindly to Sebastian.

“Talking trees. What do trees have to talk about? Except the consistency of squirrel droppings” Sebastian replied sarcastically, always reluctant at accepting the things he could not see.

“Something’s out there!” Blaine exclaimed, as he started half running, Sam close at his heels.

“What do you see?” Sam asked him, resting his hand on the small of Blaine’s back when he stopped, in a gesture that implied his full trust in Blaine’s sensations.

“The white witch approaches” Blaine whispered, looking fearfully at his lover.

“Do not let him speak. He will put a spell on us” Sam advised his two companions in a soft voice as Sebastian joined them, and the three of them got their weapons ready. “We must be quick”

Suddenly a blinding light appeared in front of them, and they used their weapons against it, only to have them failing at the strength of the creature in front of them.

“You think you’re tracking the footsteps of a young hobbit” the figure covered in light told them, even as they couldn’t see her face yet because of the brightness she emanated.

“Where is she?” Sam asked him, confused that she would know about their mission.

“He never came this way, as he continued with her mission of accompanying her dear friend on her destiny from the beginning. Does that comfort you?” the figure asked, kindlier than they would have expected.

“Who are you?” Sam yelled at her. “Show yourself!”

The figure obeyed, and the light that was covering her diminished until they could clearly discover Beiste’s features in her.

“It cannot be” Sam whispered, shaking his head.

“Forgive me. I mistook you for Sue” Blaine told him, deeply sorry, as he kneeled in front of her, begging for her pardon.

“I am Sue” Beiste answered kindly, asking for Blaine to stand up with a move of her hand. “Or rather, what Sue should have been”

“You fell” Sam could still not believe Beiste was standing in front of them, alive.

“Through fire and water” Beiste agreed with him.

Beiste explained to them how she had come to be with them again. She had fought valiantly against de Balrog of Morgoth. She had defeated him, but paying a big price, and darkness had taken her. But somehow she had been sent back, until her mission was over.

“Beiste” Sam called her.

“Beiste? Yes, that is what they used to call me” Beiste answered. “Beiste the Grey. I am Beiste the White now. And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide”

Suddenly Beiste started walking through the forest, and the others couldn’t do anything else than to follow him.

“One stage of your journey is over” Beiste told them as she heard them walking swiftly behind her. “Another begins. We must travel to Edoras with all speed”

“Edoras?” Sebastian questioned. “That is no short distance”

“We hear of trouble in Rohan” Sam intervened. “It goes ill with the King”

“Yes, and it will not be easily cured” Beiste agreed.

“Then we have run all this way for nothing? We came looking for a hobbit that was not even here?” Sebastian asked, a little deflated to know all their efforts had been in vain.

“It was more than mere chance that brought you to Fangorn. A great power has been sleeping here for many long years. Your coming will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains”

“In one thing you haven’t changed, dear friend” Sam intervened, eliciting a smile from Beiste. “You still speak in riddles”

“A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the Elder Days. The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong”

They went out of Fangorn forests to their horses waiting for them outside (including Shadowfax, the master of all the horses, and Beiste’s mount) and they stated galloping towards their destination, Edoras, the capital of Rohan’s realm.

**********

When night reached them, they decided to make camp in a secluded little forest they had crossed in their way. As Sebastian and Sam prepared some dinner, Blaine went into a little pond to get some fresh water for everyone.

When he returned to the camp, he found his three travelling companions sitting on rocks or fallen trees around a fire. He smiled at the comforting picture and went to seat himself.

“You sit here, Blaine” Beiste told him, standing up from her place next to Sam.

“No, please, Beiste, don’t move. I’ll just sit here” Blaine answered with a humble smile, taking a seat a little further from them.

“Don’t be silly, lad, I know you’re dying to be near Sam” she insisted, making Sam choke on his food.

“What... how... what?” Blaine clumsily tried to ask, giving himself away much more than he would have wanted.

“Sebastian” Beiste said with laughter on his voice “don’t tell me they are still pretending”

“Indeed they are!” Sebastian answered, amusedly. “Though they are not very good at it, I must tell you”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Sam tried, even though he knew it was pointless.

“Oh, you don’t, do you? And why then are you blushing to the roots of your hair and Blaine hasn’t still been able to close his mouth after it fell open in surprise?” Beiste replied, making Sebastian laugh wholeheartedly at the couple.

“How do you know?” Blaine asked, once he was convinced there was no way they could continue denying it.

“Come on, Blaine, I’ve know you since you were a little elfling, you know you’re like a son to me and I know you like the back of my hand. Let’s say I could see through your pretence”

“And well” Sebastian intervened. “I’ve been travelling with just the two of you for days. Kind of hard to keep it a secret. Let’s say I don’t always sleep as soundly as you think”

Blaine groaned from embarrassment, causing Sebastian and Beiste to laugh even more at them.

“And why didn’t you say anything and stopped us from making a fool of ourselves?” Blaine asked Sebastian, kind or reproachfully.

“And what, miss the moment of the revelation?” Sebastian joked with his friend. “No, seriously. I thought if you were hiding it from me you must have your reasons, so who was I to contradict your wishes?”

“We were not hiding it from you _per se,_ we were just... hiding it. From the world” Blaine excused himself.

“Hey, you don’t really have to explain, laddie” Sebastian told his young friend kindly, eliciting a smile from him.

“You don’t have to hide from us anymore” Beiste told both lovers warmly. “We understand why you did it, especially when Finn was... still with us and the future of Gondor’s throne was in question, but we are dear friends and you can trust us. Our world is too difficult right now to be losing the precious moments we have within our reach. We understand and we want you to be happy. So please, Blaine, will you come and sit with your loved one already?” Beiste ordered him playfully.

Blaine gave Beiste one of his million dollar smile, grateful to his old friend, and walked to Sam, who still hadn’t said a word. Sam was sitting on a fallen tree, and Blaine sat on the floor with his back to the tree in between his lover’s legs, lifting his face to look at him and gaining himself a fond smile and a kiss to his forehead from the man.

“Thank you, my friends” Sam said, directing his words to the witch and the dwarf. “I think I speak both in Blaine’s and my behalf when I say we feel very happy of being able to be honest with you and live our love naturally around you. You’re the greatest friends we could wish for. But I have to ask one more favour of you. Nobody out of the four of us should know about my love for Blaine” he paused a moment just to look at Blaine with a loving smile and caress the top of his head. “It could ruin everything if word spread too soon”

“That would be my fault” Blaine added regretfully. “I don’t think the people of Gondor will be very glad to welcome into their realm a male elf as their King’s consort”

Sam, hearing the guilt on his lover’s voice, lowered his upper body down to surround Blaine’s neck with his arms from behind him, depositing a kiss on the top of his head and then resting his cheek over Blaine’s.

“Love, I already told you not to worry about that. They will accept you, I’m sure. And if they don’t, we’ll both leave Gondor and find our own way”

“Wait a minute: are we talking about bonding yourself together?” Beiste asked, suspiciously, but the smile that broke in Blaine’s left no room for doubt.

“As soon as the War is over” Sam replied, sitting up straight in pride, resting his hands on Blaine’s shoulders, somewhat defiantly.

“But this calls for a bit of congratulating!” Beiste exclaimed happily as both Sebastian and himself moved to the happy couple and made them stand up to embrace them warmly, genuinely glad there was room for happiness amongst all the bad in the world.

“Well, Sam, as I already said, Blaine is like a son to me, so I hope you take good care of him or you’ll have me to deal with” Beiste joked, and Sam and Blaine just looked at each other before Sam put an arm around his betrothed’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry, I’m planning to do just that” he said, planting a kiss on Blaine’s cheek.

“I’ll take good care of you too” Blaine told Sam with an adoring smile.

“I have no doubt about it” Sam replied with a matching smile.

“I think we all deserve a nice celebrating smoking session together” Sebastian announced, already grabbing his pipe from his pocket and approaching the fire to light it.

“Is that what you consider a celebration? I call that plain disgusting” Blaine moaned good-naturedly.

“You young people don’t know how to appreciate the pleasures of life” Sebastian answered playfully.

“Young people? Do I have to remind you that I’m more than two...” Blaine mockingly reproached him, but Sebastian didn’t let him finish.

“...thousand years older than me, I know. But you still look like a young lad to me”

“And he is” Sam intervened teasingly, as he lighted his pipe too.

“Thank you, love” Blaine answered with irony.

“You’re always welcome, sweetheart” he answered equally ironic.

“Ugs!” Blaine exclaimed, moving a bit away from them, as he hated the smell. “I’m going for a walk”

“Blaine, don’t go. We’ll just stop smoking if it bothers you that much” Beiste offered kindly.

“No, please, Beiste, don’t worry, I’ll just go for a walk” Blaine told them with an honest smile, as happiness was still quite evident in his face. “I feel like doing it anyway, I need to bond with nature for awhile, I haven’t been doing it these days with all the running and worrying. I’ll see you guys later. And... thank you. For everything. You’re the best friends we could have wished for” he told them in an embarrassed whisper as he turned to go.

“Blaine?” Sam called before he went.

“Yes?” he answered, turning again to look at him.

“I love you” Sam answered in a firm voice, and Blaine had to smile about the security Sam had in their love so as to proclaim it so confidently in front of their friends.

“I love you too” he answered with a loving smile.

**********

With him being surrounded by trees at last, after endless days just running across plains, and with the knowledge of the acceptance of his friends on his relationship with Sam, there was a happiness in Blaine’s heart like he had never experienced before. Even if he knew that, being at war like they were, everything could change in a minute, at times like this he felt as if nothing could go wrong, and that all the remaining members of their fellowship, wherever they were, would make it safely to see the end of it.

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn’t hear a dark figure approaching.

“Am I interrupting something?” Sam’s playful voice reached his ears and he only had to lift his face to see him right next to where he was sitting, resting his back on a tree.

“In fact you are, but the interruption is highly appreciated” Blaine responded with a smile that lit his whole face.

Sam sat at Blaine’s side, facing him, and bringing his hand to rest on the floor at Blaine’s other side, capturing him with his arm so their chests were almost touching, their faces merely inches apart.

“Are you done with your pipe now?” Blaine asked, trying to look reproachful but not succeeding, as a smile broke on his lips the instant his lover was at his side.

“I had to finish it quickly because I was missing you too much” Sam responded playfully, though there was a lot of truth in his words.

“I wouldn’t have had to go away in the first place if you hadn’t been smoking, you know” Blaine joked back as he idly played with Sam’s long hair. “At last we don’t have to hide anymore and you send me away with your pipe...”

“And how great was that?” Sam exclaimed, leaving the joking aside. “As much as I didn’t want anyone to know yet, I feel so relieved and thankful they know and they respect it... The journey is going to be so much easier now, with me being able to kiss you and hold you and basically love you as much as I need...”

Blaine chuckled at that, and gave Sam a little peck on his lips.

“Yes, Sebastian and Beiste were so great... How they supported us...” Blaine said, not been able to continue because he was very moved by their friend’s attitude towards their love. Sam could see that and kissed his nose in a comforting gesture.

“They love you so much... and by extension they love me too, so it’s just natural that they are happy for us”

“Thank you for not telling them about...”

“About what?” Sam asked, moving Blaine’s hair out of his face tenderly.

“About my mortality” Blaine said in a whisper.

“It’s not my place to tell them, love. And it was such a happy occasion, I didn’t think it was the time to mar it with sad news”

“You see it as sad, I see it as the start of our happiness together”

“I know how you feel about it, but I still find it hard to accept you’re giving up your immortality for me. Maybe I’m still hoping you’ll change your mind”

“That’s never going to happen”

“I was suspecting that” Sam answered with a sad smile.

“Then please stop feeling guilty about it and above all stop wishing I change my mind. I already told you, it’s not even in my hands anymore to put an end to my love for you. Why can’t you just be happy that I love you so much and that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together?” Blaine implored Sam to understand, and the man could only smile fondly at his reasoning and leant over to kiss his lips as tenderly as possible.

“I am very happy” Sam reassured him, eliciting a smile from the elf. “In fact, I’m so happy that sometimes my heart feels like it’s going to explode. Don’t think for even one minute that I’m not yearning for the moment when I become yours and you become mine. Not that we aren’t already, but you know what I mean”

Blaine laughed wholeheartedly and Sam could only appreciate his beauty, which only seemed to brighten with Blaine’s laughter.

“ _Lle naa vanima*_ ” Sam whispered to him as he cupped his cheek to contemplate his face carefully, making Blaine blush embarrassedly.

“You’re just too good to me” Blaine whispered to his lover, just before putting his arms around his neck to bring him to him and kiss him slowly, adoringly.

“Maybe” Sam mumbled against his lips. “But only because you deserve it. Just as I deserve to be able to sleep with you by my side without worrying at last!” he joked, making Blaine laugh again.

 _“Esta sinome*_ ” Blaine invited him, laying down and patting the ground at his side for Sam to lay down. Sam obeyed, and Blaine immediately curled at his side, resting his head on Sam’s chest and holding onto him strongly, just as he felt Sam’s arms envelop him protectively and a kiss been laid on the top of his head.

It was the first night since the journey started they could spend with their bodies entwined around in each other. And it felt as good as they had dreamed.

 

**********

 _*Amin hiraetha, melamin:_ I’m sorry, my love.

 _*Lle naa vanima:_ You’re beautiful

* _Esta sinome:_ Rest here


	4. Rohan

Following Rachel's directions, Kitty and Marley made it to Mordor's Black Gate, which left them breathless from the magnificence of it –and from the fear it awakened on them. They were lucky enough to find it opening, as a squadron of Sauron's army was making its way in, but it was indeed very risky to try and enter.

Kitty and Marley looked at each other and were ready to make a jump towards the gate when Rachel roughly grabbed their shoulders and brought them down on their backs.

"No, madam!" Rachel yelled. "They catch you! Don't take it to him! He wants the precious, and the precious is wanting to go back to him. But we mustn't let him have it"

Kitty looked intently at Rachel, trying to decipher in her eyes if he could trust her. Then she looked at the gate and saw that the last soldiers were crossing and it would be soon closing, so she jumped again towards it, only to be stopped by Rachel again.

"No! There's another way!" she yelled. "More secret. A dark way"

"Why haven't you spoken about this before?" Marley reproached her, grabbing her unceremoniously by her shoulders.

"Because Master did not ask!" Rachel defended herself.

"She's up to something" Marley turned to Kitty to try and open her eyes to what she considered not worth of their trust.

"Are you saying there's another way into Mordor?" Kitty asked Rachel, ignoring Marley's suspicions.

"Yes. There's a path and some stairs. And then a tunnel" Rachel answered.

Kitty observed how the gate finally closed and knew they had definitely lost that chance.

"She's lead us this far, Marley" Kitty said, turning to her friend.

"Madam Kitty, no" Marley tried to convince her, as she didn't trust Rachel one bit.

"She's been true to her word" Kitty insisted.

"No" Marley implored.

"Lead the way, Rachel" Kitty made her decision, once again not listening to Marley, who sighed sadly, hurt by her friend's lack of trust in her good judgement.

"Good Rachel always helps" Rachel replied with a satisfied smile.

* * *

The curious fellowship formed by a wizard, a man, an elf and a dwarf, meanwhile, reached the walls of Edoras at last after a long day of travelling with their horses.

"Edoras and the Golden Hall of Medused" Beiste informed the others. "There dwells Burt, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Sue's hold over King Burt is now very strong. Be careful with what you say. Do not look for welcome here" Beiste advised them before starting her horse again towards the gate.

Sam looked intently at the riders on the horse next to his, who looked back at him, puzzled.

"You both heard that, did you? _Be careful with what you say_. I hope you behave this time" Sam warned them, making Blaine lower his gaze in embarrassment.

"Sam, we learned the lesson, you don't have to treat us like little kids" Sebastian grumbled, and Sam had to suppress a chuckle at his companions' different reactions to his words.

"I hope so" Sam answered, this time with humor in his voice, as he squeezed Blaine's shoulder lovingly to show him he was only joking and made his horse move, so Blaine and Sebastian followed him.

They left their horses right in front of the stairs that lead to the palace of the King, once inside the beautiful city, and went up with the intention of seeing him.

"I cannot allow you before King Burt so armed, Beiste Greyhame" the warriors guarding the gates advised them. "By order of Kurt Wormtongue"

Beiste, who had made sure to cover herself with a big cloak to hide she was a white wizard now, didn't seem very pleased with such an order, especially if it was not coming from the King itself, but she decided to obey nonetheless, and she nodded at her travelling companions to surrender their weapons to the guards, which they did.

"Your staff" the guard insisted when Beiste didn't give it away.

"You would not part an old woman from her walking stick" Beiste pleaded, feigning having to lean on it to stand and holding onto Blaine's arm for support, so the guard would be convinced of her fragility and let them pass.

When they crossed the threshold of the Throne Room, Kurt seemed not very pleased with their presence, and turned to King Burt, whose mind he had totally abducted on Sauron's account, to inform him of his presence.

"My lord, Beiste the Grey is coming"

"The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Burt" Beiste announced when they were all inside, surrounded by guards, and the gates had been closed behind them.

"He's not welcome" Kurt whispered at Burt's ear, dominating his mind.

"Why should I welcome you, Beiste Stormcrow?" Burt said in a loud and slow voice, to Kurt's orders.

"A just question, my liege" Kurt assured him. "Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear"

"Be silent!" Beiste ordered Kurt confidently. "Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm" Beiste threatened, moving her staff in front of her.

"Her staff!" Kurt exclaimed, full of fear. "I told you to take the wizard's staff!" he reproached the guardians.

The guardians of Kurt, having seen their mistake, immediately run to Beiste with the intention of depriving her from his staff, but Blaine, the one who was closer to her, prevented some of them of coming any closer by fighting them with his fists. Sam and Sebastian, of course, immediately joined him in his defense of the witch, and a big fight broke. The guardians of the King, though, still loyal to the Royal Family, chose not to intervene.

Blaine was occupied with a strong warrior when another one was making his way towards him. Fortunately, Sam had seen it, and used his superior skill on hand-to-hand combat to stop his advances on his lover, punching the lights out of him before he couldn't come any closer to Blaine, who by now was just finishing off his own rival. Sam took a moment to check Blaine's welfare with his eyes, eliciting a grateful smile from the elf, and then moved back to stand at Beiste's side.

"Burt!" Beiste yelled over all the racket. "Too long you have sat in the Shadows. I release you from the spell"

Beiste stretched her hand out in front of Burt's face, with the intention of liberating Burt's mind from the spell that kept him under Kurt's –and Sue's, by extension– power, but Burt, unexpectedly, just started laughing loudly.

"You have no power here, Beiste the Grey" he told Beiste when his laughter faded.

But Beiste just took his cloak off to show the white of his clothes, to which Burt was greatly affected.

"I will draw you, Sue, as poison is drawn from a wound!" Beiste promised, and used her staff to try and free Burt from Sue again.

A young maiden appeared suddenly and tried to make her way to the King, to whom she seemed to have some kind of physical resemblance, but Sam grabbed her arm and stopped her advance.

"Wait" Sam asked, and something in his eyes made her trust him, and she obeyed.

"If I go, Burt does" the voice coming from Burt, undoubtedly belonging to Sue, warned Beiste.

"You did not kill me. You will not kill him" Beiste responded, still using her staff against Sue's power.

"Rohan is mine" Sue's voice insisted.

"Be gone" Beiste ordered, and finally Sue was thrown out of Burt's body and the King's mind was freed from all slavery.

The young woman Sam was keeping back extricated herself from his grip and ran to the King.

"I know your face" Burt told her when at last he was able to recognize her. "Brittany"

"Uncle" she answered, with tears in her eyes.

"Beiste?" he asked, confused.

"Breathe the free air again, my friend" Beiste told him with a smile.

When his sword was given back to the King, he turned to Kurt, who had been lying on the floor under Sebastian's foot, preventing his escape. The King's guardians threw Kurt down the palace stairs outside, but the King had an important thirst of revenge that made him follow him with the intention of killing him.

Just when he was about to strike him with his word, Kurt lying on the floor totally defenseless, Sam grabbed his arms to stop him, begging him not to do it.

"No, my lord!" he pleaded. "Enough blood has been spilt on his account"

Burt, who was still feeling confused after such a long spell, obeyed and lowered his arms. Sam then turned to Kurt and offered his hand to help him stand from the floor. Kurt, though, instead of accepting his help, he spat on Sam's hand before he ran away, undoubtedly toward Isengard and Sue's tower.

Sebastian had to grab Blaine's arms strongly to stop him from going after Kurt, after such an affront had been made to his lover. But somehow Sam sensed it and turned around to look at him and ask him with his gaze to let it go, to which Blaine immediately calmed down and nodded at Sebastian to let go of his arms, with an implicit promise not to fly after Kurt.

It would not be the last time they would see Kurt Wormtongue.

* * *

"I could have killed him with my bare hands for doing something like that to you" Blaine mumbled a while later, still fuming about Kurt's insult to his lover.

"It wouldn't have served any purpose if you had" Sam calmly answered, coming to perch behind Blaine on the bench he was sitting on in the throne room and surrounding his waist with his own arms lovingly, while they waited for the others. "By the way, I'm proud of you about not losing your mind and remaining calm"

"I did not, to be honest. Sebastian held me back" Blaine whispered embarrassedly, but Sam just smiled at his lover's sincerity and kissed his neck.

"Yes, but you didn't fight him to be freed and you stayed put. I know it took a great effort for you to do that" he explained as he squeezed Blaine more strongly to him, proud at his self-control.

"I hope you washed your hand before holding me with it" Blaine joked to play down the importance of Sam's appraisal.

Sam laughed wholeheartedly and kissed his cheek, thankful once again to have this wonderful creature next to him. Just at that moment, Beiste, Sebastian, Brittany and Burt entered the room, and Blaine swiftly but discreetly extricated himself from Sam's embrace and stood up to lean against a column. It was okay for Beiste and Sebastian to know about their love, but they did not wish to include more people on their secret yet.

"Now the Wild Men are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go" Brittany explained to her uncle about how Rohan was being besieged, as he was unaware of most of the things that had happened to his country while he was under Sue's spell.

"And it's only a taste of the terror that Sue will unleash" Beiste added, as Burt sat on his throne, overwhelmed by all the terrible information he was receiving. "Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight"

"You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak" Sam intervened from his place at the bench. "Puck is loyal to you, his men will return and fight for their king"

"They will be three hundred leagues from here by now!" Burt answered curtly, obviously upset about the fact his nephew was not at his side. "Puck cannot help us. I will not risk open war"

"Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not" Sam contradicted him.

"When last I looked Burt, not Sam, was king of Rohan" Burt told Sam in an offensive reproach, to which Sam heard Blaine behind him hiss in anger, but Sam discreetly extended his hand in a stopping gesture that Blaine obeyed trustingly.

"Then what is the King's decision?" Beiste asked, not liking where this conversation was leading.

"We'll leave the city and make for the refuge of Helm's deep" Burt informed without even looking at any of them, and left the room before anyone could question his decision.

"Helm's deep!" Sebastian exclaimed, angered at the King's cowardice, as he and his friends left the palace to go to the stables to accompany Beiste while he got ready for his departure. "They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their King?"

"He's only doing what he thinks is best for his people" Sam defended him, although he disagreed with his decision as much as Sebastian. "Helm's deep has saved them in the past"

"There is no way out of that ravine" Beiste explained, worried. "Burt is walking into a trap. I fear for the survival of Rohan. He will need you before the end, Sam. The people of Rohan will need you. The defenses have to hold"

"They will hold" Sam answered with more confidence than he was really feeling, and he felt grateful for the hand closing around his, showing him his support, as his lover stood at his side.

"And we'll be there for you" Blaine assured him, and Sebastian nodded enthusiastically, to which Sam could only smile in gratitude.

Beiste jumped on her horse, as she was leaving them again on an attempt of getting help for Rohan in other places.

"Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look at the east"

"Go" Sam answered with a nod of his head.

* * *

When Sam came back to the palace a while later, he found Brittany practicing her skills with the sword, and he had to admit she was pretty good.

"You have some skill with a blade" Sam told her.

"I fear neither death or pain" she answered, as she sheathed her sword.

"What do you fear, my lady?" Sam asked her, sensing some strong feelings inside the girl that clearly worried her, and wanting to help her.

"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them"

"You're a daughter of Kings, a shieldmaiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate" Sam told them reassuringly, and Brittany just looked at him, marvelled at his words and his presence.

Sam bowed his head to her as a farewell and turned around, only to discover Blaine looking at them intently from afar. Sam smiled and immediately went to him, both of them becoming hidden behind a palace column.

"Are you all ready to go, my love?" Sam asked his lover tenderly.

"Yes, I am. It's not like we have a lot to pack, do we?" Blaine answered, equally loving.

Sam chuckled and put his hands to Blaine's waist, pushing him gently against the column, and captured his lips in a kiss that lingered, with Blaine bringing his arms around Sam's neck to pull him closer to him. When the kiss broke, though, Sam, who could read his lover as if it was an open book, could see there was something in Blaine's mind that he was not telling.

"Love, what's wrong? Is there something you don't know how to tell me?" he asked him carefully, wanting to encourage him to open his heart to him.

Blaine smiled at his lover's intuition, and started playing with the man's hair, just to keep his hands occupied.

"Brittany fancies you" he told him directly, not wanting to beat about the bush with Sam.

"What?" Sam asked with a skeptical grin. "No way she does"

"She does, I can see it in her eyes. How she looked at you when you talked to her, and how she was observing you back at the stable as you tried to calm down that crazed horse... She is falling in love with you"

"She just... needs someone to listen to her, and I was there to do that. I don't think she fancies me. And even if she does... you do know I only love you, don't you?" It was very important for Sam to make Blaine understand Brittany didn't mean anything to him.

"Of course I know, you silly" Blaine answered with an honest smile. "I'm not jealous, because I know our love is strong and complete and nobody could change that"

Sam sighed relieved, and strengthened his grip on Blaine's waist.

"Then what is it that worries you, my love?" he asked.

"I don't want her to get hurt. She is a good woman, she doesn't deserve it. Just... be careful"

Sam marvelled at the goodness in Blaine's heart that would make him worry about a person that anybody else would see as a rival.

"I will, I promise"

"I know you'll do. You are a kind- hearted man, Sam" Blaine praised his lover, proud to be his betrothed.

"Ok then, now that we've established that, can you just stop talking about Brittany and kiss me? You've neglected me long enough" Sam suggested with a mischievous smile.

Blaine's only answer was to tighten his grip on Sam to pull him to him and kiss him until both of them were left panting for breath.

* * *

CHARACTERS:

Theoden: Burt Hummel

Grima: Kurt Hummel (not family of Burt in here)

Eowyn: Brittany Pierce


	5. The way to Helm's Deep

The whole city of Edoras started their long way towards Helm’s Deep, where King Burt thought they would be more protected against the upcoming attack from Sue. Undoubtedly, Kurt Wormtongue would have told Sue by now about their departure, about the direction they were going to take and about how slow they were going to be, considering most of them would travel on foot. So they would have to be careful, and that’s why Blaine spent most of the time ahead of them, as his Elven superior sight would let him see any possible peril before anyone else, in case there was.

Sam, who was travelling with the people, was surely missing him, as he had hardly seen his lover in almost two days. And the fact Brittany was around him all the time, trying to be nice to him and make herself noticed, wasn’t helping. Sam was starting to think that Blaine was probably right –well, wasn’t he always?–, and Brittany really did fancy him. And her constant attentions and affections only made him miss Blaine more.

Even Sebastian was missing the elf like crazy, as he didn’t get to share his horse with him and he kept falling from it every few hours.

So when the second night arrived and Sam had not seen a hair of Blaine all day, he sat with his back to a rock, a bit away from where the people had made camp, with only his pipe and his solitude as companions. If he couldn’t be with Blaine, he could at least fill his mind with memories of him, couldn’t he?

Sam lovingly caressed the Evenstar hanging from his neck, as if he was caressing Blaine himself, and brought it to his lips to rest a kiss on it. Smiling, he remembered the first time his lips had tasted Blaine’s.

_It had been in Mirkwood, Blaine’s land, on one of Sam’s visits. Since the first time they had met, Sam had kept coming back to the Woodland Realm every now and then, increasingly more frequently, the excuses getting more ridiculous every time. He was absolutely bewitched with the elf’s beauty, warmth, courage and friendliness, and with how easy it was for him to leave everything to “be a good host and take care of their guest” whenever Sam appeared._

_They had quickly become friends, even if Blaine’s father was not that pleased with his son’s friendship with a human, but Sam soon found it was not enough, that he was hopelessly and helplessly in love with that wonderful creature. He didn’t know if Blaine reciprocated his feelings, but he had to come clean with him or he would go crazy._

_So one evening, as they were taking a late walk around the forest, Sam had picked up Blaine’s hand and had received the most surprised but adoring gaze he had ever seen. He had stopped in front of the elf and had tried to open his heart to him, and Blaine had just stood there, watching him with an indefinable sentiment on his eyes. But Sam had never been a man of words, and when he got tongue-tied for the hundredth time, Blaine, in a sudden fit of enthusiasm, leant over and captured Sam’s lips in a swift kiss that it was hard to tell who it did surprise the most._

_After the kiss, all the courage in Blaine vanished and he blushed, mumbling some incoherent apology and already turning around to flee from Sam’s vicinity. If Sam wasn’t a man of words, Blaine surely wasn’t one of impulses. At least he had never been until Sam. But Sam just grabbed his hand again to stop him from leaving, he smiled at him, and tenderly drove his hands to Blaine’s neck. He took a moment to look at his flushed face and to give him time to stop him if that was what he wanted. But Blaine didn’t, so Sam took that as an invitation and he slowly joined their lips again, much more deeply this time, until he felt Blaine relaxing in their kiss and his arms shyly embracing him._

_Very few words had been exchanged that night, as they made their way back to the palace, timidly holding hands and sending curious, slightly embarrassed and very loving looks to each other. Those words were not required, though, as everything they needed to communicate had been written on that kiss. The time to talk would come soon, maybe next day. That night was only for dreaming._

Sam caressed the pendant again, now with a big smile on his face. He cherished every one of the moments shared with Blaine, but somehow that was his favorite memory, as it had been the beginning of everything. With that thought still fresh on his mind, he put out his pipe and laid down, welcoming slumber with a big smile on his face.

**********

Kitty and Marley were still on their quest to find another way into Mordor that didn’t imply crossing the Black Gate, as Rachel had promised to show them. The tension between Kitty and Marley was slowly but decidedly growing, and Rachel’s attitude, which deeply irritated Marley, didn’t help.

“Hey, stinker, don’t go getting too far ahead” Marley told Rachel disdainfully as the latter ran ahead of them trying to catch a fish on the river to eat it.

“Why do you do that?” Kitty asked Marley curtly.

“What?” Marley asked back, puzzled.

“Call him names. Run her down all the time”

“Because that’s what she is, Madam Kitty. There’s naught left in her but lies and deceit. It’s the Ring she wants, it’s all she cares about”

“You have no idea what it did to her, what it’s still doing to her. I want to help her, Marley” Kitty whispered, as she was beginning to understand what the weight of the Ring could do to a person.

“You can’t save her, Madam Kitty” Marley answered.

“What do you know about it? Nothing!” Kitty yelled at Marley.

Kitty could have punched Marley in the face and it wouldn’t have hurt her as much as her words did. Marley just sighed, deceived once again, and turned around and away from Kitty, not wanting to argue because she knew it was mostly the Ring talking on her account.

“I’m sorry, Marley” Kitty apologized honestly, as she couldn’t believe how mean he was being with his friend herself. “I don’t know why I said that”

“I do” Marley answered, turning back to her, always ready to forgive her best friend. “It’s the Ring. It’s taken hold of you, Mr. Kitty. You have to fight it”

“I know what I have to do, Marley. The Ring was entrusted to me. It’s my task. Mine!” Kitty answered, angry again.

“Can’t you hear yourself? Do you know who you sound like?”

But Kitty was listening to her anymore, as she followed Rachel down the river.

**********

The next day started pretty much on the same way for the travelers. Sam was still missing Blaine, as he was still on a scout party way ahead of them. Sam walked, absorbed in his own thoughts, when Brittany caught up with him.

“Where is the one who gave you that jewel?” Brittany asked him, pointing at the Evenstar, curious to know about her competitor to Sam’s heart.

The mention of his most valuable possession and what it meant made Sam think about his former owner again. He remembered how Blaine’s father had reproached him Blaine’s negative to cross to the undying lands of Valinor, where he could live eternally, not wanting to leave Sam behind.

_“The time for the elves here is ending” Thranduil had told him one night, shortly after he had found about their love. “Blaine’s time is ending. Let him go, let him take the ship into the west. Let him bear away his love for you to the Undying Lands. There it will be ever green”_

_“But never more than memory” Sam had answered, not being able to even think about a life without Blaine at his side._

_“I will not leave my son here to die” Thranduil had threatened._

_“He stays because he still has hope” Sam had tried to reason with him, though to no avail._

_“He stays here for you!” Thandruil had raised his voice to him, wanting to sound intimidating. “He belongs with his people”_

_Sam had looked at Blaine’s father as if he was about to give an angry retort to him, but found there were no words to answer Thranduil’s argument: he was right. Blaine needed to be with his people, in a place where he was safe from death, hurting and evilness. And he knew he would never be able to convince him of that, so the best thing to do would be to leave and never come back. With that thought on his head, he just turned around and started his way out of Mirkwood._

_Fortunately, Blaine seemed to have a sixth sense to everything related with his lover, and had intercepted him before he had been able to leave._

_“Is this how you would take your leave?” Blaine had reproached him gently, almost jokingly. “Did you think you could slip away at first light, unnoticed?”_

_Sam has immediately stopped at his tracks as Blaine appeared behind him. There was no way he could leave so easily now, not when Blaine was there to see him departing._

_“I will not be coming back” Sam had answered, despair obvious in his voice._

_“You underestimate your skill in battle. You will be back” Blaine told him, not understanding Sam’s words._

_“It is not death in battle that I speak” Sam confessed._

_“What do you speak of?” Blaine asked, puzzled at Sam’s attitude._

_“You have a chance for another life, away from war... grief... despair...” Sam insisted, wanting to convince him to let him go._

_“Why are you saying this?” Blaine asked, looking intently at him and trying to decipher in his eyes the reason behind Sam’s words._

_“I am mortal. You are Elf-kind. It was a dream, Blaine” Sam had told him, ready to lie to him if it meant keeping him safe. “Nothing more”_

_“I don’t believe you” Blaine had confidently answered, before grabbing the back of his head possessively and kissing him fiercely, making Sam forget about his leaving with his passion._

That’s how it had always been between them. Sam not wanting Blaine to renounce to immortality for him; Blaine stubbornly defending his decision. Sam had to smile at Blaine’s obstinate personality, as it was that trade that had kept them together after so much adversity.

It was Brittany’s words that brought Sam back to reality.

“My lord?”

“I would have liked for that creature to be sailing to the Undying Lands with all that is left of his kin right now” Sam answered, not wanting to elaborate any further.

Sam lifted his gaze up, towards a little hill in front of him, and he was rewarded with the first glimpse of Blaine for almost two days. For a second Sam was overwhelmed at his lover’s presence and beauty, but his surviving instincts soon kicked in and he observed Blaine’s posture, as if he was waiting for something, as if he sensed something was about to happen.

Suddenly they heard the shouts from two Rohan soldiers that were even ahead of Blaine, and he ran towards the racket, knowing they were been attacked but not who the attacker was. He practically couldn’t believe his eyes when he discovered a big Warg –sent by Sue, undoubtedly– as the mount of an orc. The Warg had already killed one of the men, and Blaine shot an arrow from the distance to kill it before the other man would succumb to the same fate.

The orc mounting the Warg fell to the floor, and there was no time for him to react before Blaine was on him and embedding his short sword on him. Sam arrived at that same moment and his heart skipped a bit when he saw Blaine fighting. But he didn’t need to worry about him, as he had the situation way under control.

“A scout” Blaine alerted Sam, when he discovered him at his back, knowing there would be lots of orcs behind that one.

“Are you alright?” Sam asked in a rush, caressing Blaine’s face with his knuckles.

“I’m okay, don’t worry” Blaine said with an almost imperceptible smile.

Sam just nodded and started making his way back down the hill to alert the others of the upcoming attack they were about to suffer.

 “Warg! We are under attack!” Sam yelled for the soldiers to get ready to fight, though the people obviously heard it too and started to panic. “Get them out of here!”

“All riders to the head of the column!” King Burt ordered, preparing his Men for battle. Then he turned to his niece, knowing he could trust her above everyone else. “You must lead the people towards Helm’s Deep, and make haste”

“I can fight” Brittany protested.

“No! You must do this, for me” Burt begged, and she could only obey to her uncle’s petition. “Follow me!” he ordered his men, and they started galloping towards where Blaine and the other warrior had fought the scout, as the people from Edoras ran in the opposite direction at Brittany’s orders, towards Helm’s Deep.

While the soldiers galloped towards him, Blaine started shooting arrows toward the orcs and wargs already approaching from the opposite direction. As the soldiers reached his position and the horses galloped by him, he suddenly was grabbed around the waist and it was after he was sitting behind Sam on his horse that he realized it had been his lover who had lifted him up, knowing he would not have any chance on foot.

“Please, be careful, my love” Blaine begged on Sam’s ear, having a bad feeling about the battle that it was about to take place, as he put his arms around Sam’s waist, more for the need of contact than to hold on the horse.

“I love you” was Sam’s answer, as he stroked Blaine’s knee reassuringly. He hated the fact that he had hardly seen Blaine for two days and now a fight that could end both their lives was about to begin.

“I love you too” Blaine replied quickly, adrenaline running fast on his veins because of the fear and trepidation for the upcoming battle.

The humans and the orcs were rapidly galloping towards each other, and soon the battle broke and everybody started fighting. A warg impacted with the horse carrying Blaine and Sam, bringing both of them down violently. Sam stood up in a quick movement in a spite of the pain, and turned to see Blaine do the same, so he knew he was alright. He took only a second to squeeze Blaine’s hand, to encourage him and himself, and then the lovers got separated to start fighting.

Sebastian was brought down from his horse too, and found himself face to face with a warg. The warg advanced dangerously to him as Sebastian encouraged him to attack him, so he could kill it with his axe. But just when the warg was about to jump on him, an arrow shot by Blaine entered its body, killing it instantly at Sebastian’s feet.

“That one counts as mine!” Sebastian yelled at Blaine’s retreating back, angrily, but had not time to argue any further as another warg attacked him from behind.

The battle kept going, with the orcs taking the worst part, as Sam, Blaine, Sebastian, Burt and the rest of the men were well trained on War skills.

A warg, with an orc still on its back, caught Sam unawares and made him fall to the floor when he jumped on him, with such bad luck that Sam’s wrist got caught on its saddle, making it impossible for him to let go. Sam didn’t lose any time to attack the riding orc and make him fall after plugging a knife into him, but there was nothing he could do to stop the warg, that was dragging him at top speed, until suddenly the ground ended and Warg and Man fell unavoidably into the void.

The humans were finishing the lasts of orcs and wargs, and the battle was coming to an end. It was then when Blaine started looking for his lover desperately, and couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Sam!” he shouted, alerting Sebastian and the rest of the soldiers of the man’s absence.

As Blaine paced the battle’s ground looking for any clue that would lead him to his lover’s whereabouts, he heard an orc laughing a wicked laugh. He was not dead yet, though he didn’t seem very far from it –as it was the orc Sam had wounded with his knife–. Fearing for the worst, Blaine approached him, in case he was able to tell him something. But Sebastian, wanting to protect the elf, reached the orc first and threatened him with his axe.

“Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing” Sebastian told the laughing orc.

“He’s dead” the orc answered, apparently very amused with the situation. “He took a little tumble off the cliff”

Blaine knelt next to the fallen orc and roughly grabbed him by the collar.

“You lie!” Blaine begged for the Orc to be lying, although he suspected it would not be the case.

The Orc, seriously wounded, chose that moment to stop breathing, and that’s when his hand opened and Blaine discovered in it the thing that would break his heart: the Evenstar. There was no way Sam would have lost something so precious if it was not in serious circumstances. Which proved that Sam had, in fact, fought that orc and fallen down the cliff.

Blaine ran to the edge of the cliff Sam had fallen down, hoping against hope to find him there, holding on. But the only thing he saw was a river, deep down, in which Sam must have fallen. There was no way he could have survived such a fall. And his body had probably been dragged away by the river.

Sebastian ran behind him, afraid the elf would do something foolish and he would lose him too. But Blaine was just standing there, petrified, looking down the precipice. Sebastian, though, did not want to take any risks and gently grabbed his arm, both to hold him in place and to comfort him.

“Leave the dead behind” Burt yelled as he approached the cliff too, and Blaine just looked at him, deeply hurt by the King’s apparent insensitiveness. Burt just squeezed his shoulder understandingly for a second and then turned around, leaving Blaine and Sebastian standing there.

After a few silent seconds, Blaine fell unexpectedly to his knees, and for a second Sebastian was terrified he would take a tumble down the cliff too. But he didn’t, he just started shaking like crazy. Only a couple of tears made their way down his cheeks, but no sobs accompanied them. Sebastian could see Blaine was in shock and he could only hold him to his chest to try and comfort him, though he knew that Blaine would be inconsolable after such a loss.

Sebastian’s heart broke along with his friend’s when Blaine suddenly came out of his stupor and shouted his lover’s name. And there was such grief in his voice that there wasn’t a dry eye amongst the men when all of them resumed their way towards Helm’s deep.


	6. Loss

It wasn’t much later when King Burt’s men made it to the fortress at Helm’s Deep. That, and the fact that the people from Edoras had safely arrived thanks to Brittany’s guiding, were reasons enough to celebrate, and soon a little party broke. Everybody was happy and relieved, except for the elf and the dwarf amongst them, who had never faced such terrible sadness before.

The last part of the journey had been hell for the two of them. It had taken Sebastian a lot of comforting and urging to get Blaine to move from the cliff where Sam had fallen. Blaine had cried, had begged Sebastian to leave him there, had tried to descend the impossible precipice to go and collect Sam’s body –and would have done it if Sebastian hadn’t stopped him–. He was obviously not thinking clearly, but of course Sebastian didn’t blame him. He had been a direct witness to the love shared between those two creatures, so perfect for each other, and couldn’t even imagine how Blaine was going to overcome his grief, if it was possible at all.

Emotionally exhausted, Blaine had finally let Sebastian take him away from there, put him on their horse and join the men on their travelling to Helm’s deep. Sebastian couldn’t see Blaine’s face, as he was riding behind him, but had heard him sniffling all the way long, had felt the trembling on his body, and could almost physically feel the sorrow emanating from him.

When they made it to the fortress, Lady Brittany was waiting for them at the gate, anxious to know about their welfare (especially Sam’s). Sadness filled her heart when he noticed not all the soldiers had made it.

“So few of you have returned” she told her uncle sadly when he got down from his horse.

“Our people are safe, but we have paid for it with many lives” King Burt answered, as he helped one of the wounded men towards the Healing Wing.

“My lady” Sebastian told her politely, as he approached her.

“Lord Sam... where is he?” she asked, already fearing the worst.

“He fell” Sebastian simply answered, his voice shaking, but he couldn’t stay around to comfort her because there was someone else in much bigger need of his company, and that was his friend Blaine.

Brittany stood petrified at Sebastian’s news, not wanting to believe Sam was gone. But as she stood there, she watched Sebastian grab Blaine’s arm to get him to dismount, as he had yet to move. Then Sebastian encircled his waist, half embracing, half supporting him, and accompanied him up the stairs toward the palace.

Brittany was shocked at how pale the elf was, how he was shaking, how his eyes were swollen and red, and she couldn’t help but wonder how close had Sam and the elf been. She remembered how Sam had insinuated his lover was an elf, but she had never imagined that elf would be right in front of her eyes. But Blaine looked so devastated... She felt a little jealous, now that she knew –or at least she had high suspicions– he was the owner of Sam’s heart, her competitor for his affections.

But then she thought it didn’t matter anymore. Sam was dead.

**********

Brego, the crazed horse that only Sam had been able to pacify back at Edoras, had escaped from his actual owner once they made it to Helm’s Deep, and had started his way back to where the Men had fought the Orcs just some hours ago. It was as if the animal knew his protector needed him, and he had fled to his rescue.

Brego had found Sam unconscious, pretty battered and with no strength at all. But Brego wanted to return the favor done by Sam, who had prevented the men from sacrificing the horse when he had seemed to go crazy. So he started touching Sam’s face with his snout, licking it patiently, until Sam had regained consciousness and had recognized the horse. But he was still completely powerless, so Brego had laid at his side for Sam to climb on top of him and then slowly stood up, with Sam on his back, and had started their way back to Helm’s Deep, where none of them were expected but would be gladly welcome.

**********

At last at Helm’s deep, Blaine sat in a corner of the room that had been assigned to him and Sebastian at the fortress where the whole city of Edoras was waiting for the battle with Sue’s forces. He wasn't doing anything: he just sat there, on the floor, with an emptiness in his eyes that Sebastian was beginning to worry about. He was calmer than before, but Sebastian doubted that was any better, as now a deep and quiet grief had established on his hollow gaze, which scared the dwarf deeply. Sebastian, who by now had overcome all his differences with the elf and considered him his best friend, approached him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Blaine” the elf didn't seem to hear him. “Blaine!” he called, a bit louder.

That seemed to put Blaine out of his stupor and looked at Sebastian with guilty eyes.

“I'm sorry, my friend, I was just thinking, I didn't hear you”

“And was that helping in any way?” Sebastian asked gently, trying to get him to talk, although he knew what the answer would be.

“No. I can't seem to get him out of my mind for even a second” A few tears began to fall freely from his eyes and Blaine didn't do anything to hide them. “Oh, Sebastian… what am I going to do without him?”

Sebastian couldn't stand his sadness anymore and kneeled in front of Blaine, holding him against his chest as strong as he could in an attempt of comforting him, just as he began stroking the elf's soft hair.

“I know you miss him, laddie. I miss him very much too, so I just can't imagine how hard it must be for you. But you have to be strong. I knew Sam, he would have wanted you to go on”

“I know” Blaine admitted with a tiny sob.

“And he surely wouldn't want you mourning over him when one of the greatest battle that has ever taken place in Middle Earth is about to begin. He would want you to take care of yourself. And he would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you!” Sebastian joked gently, which brought a sad smile to the elf's lips.

“I just can't stop thinking that we are all here thanks to him, and now he is going to miss it. And all the plans we had for when Sauron was defeated...”

“Stop it, Blaine. You have to stop thinking about it. We have to concentrate on what's ahead of us. I don't want to lose you too. I can’t lose you” Sebastian confessed, a tear rolling down his cheek.

At that, Blaine looked intensely in the Dwarf's eyes.

“You are right. We have to fight for what Sam gave his life for. We owe him that”

“Yes, we do. He would be so proud of you...” Sebastian told his grieving friend, his voice full of emotion.

“Thank you” Blaine answered, squeezing himself strongly to Sebastian’s chest, grateful that at least he had such a good friend in such terrible times. Sebastian just smiled fondly in response, and caressed the top of Blaine’s head again.

**********

Sam continued his journey towards Helm’s Deep, getting stronger by the minute thanks to Brego’s vigor, that allowed him to ride the whole way to save his strength. He would ask to keep that horse after the battle, if he survived, he thought, because he had demonstrated to be a wonderful mount and a loyal friend.

His wandering thoughts stopped abruptly when he heard the unmistakable sound of destruction: he turned around and discovered ten thousand Uruk-hai making their way towards Helm’s deep. They were on foot, so it would take them a longer time to reach the fortress, but they would get there eventually. Sam knew he had to hurry. Besides, he needed to see Blaine urgently: he couldn’t even imagine what he would be going through, he would be fretting with worry –or worse, if they had given him up for dead.

When he finally made it to the gates, he was immediately recognized so they opened for him, and word started quickly spreading about his return. Sebastian was the first to hear and ran to his encounter as Sam made his way in the fortress.

“Where is he? Get out of the way! I’m going to kill him!” He yelled as he tried to make his way through the crowd, until at last he was standing right in front of Sam. “You are the luckiest, the canniest and the most reckless man I ever knew!” Sebastian told him, with so much emotion on his voice that Sam couldn’t help but to smile at him fondly. “Bless you, laddie”

Sebastian hugged Sam strongly and Sam returned the embrace for a moment. But there were more important issues that required his attention, and the first one would be to find his lover.

“Sebastian, how is Blaine?” he asked, worriedly.

Sebastian took a moment before answering, which made Sam worry all the more.

“He’s... not doing so well. We thought you were dead” Sebastian explained, and Sam sighed sadly, as he had feared that.

“Where is he?”

“He’s inside. He asked me to leave him alone for a while”

“I have to go to him” Sam explained in apology, but Sebastian dismissed him.

“You go. I want to see him smiling again too” Sebastian confessed, and Sam smiled at how many obstacles the elf and the dwarf had overcome to reach such a special friendship.

Sam took the stairs to go and meet his lover before it was too late. He knew how elves could die from grief, and he hoped that wouldn’t be Blaine’s fate. Not if he could do something about it.

He was so concentrated in his own thoughts that he practically bumped on a figure standing still on his way. He lifted his gaze to see who had dared to interfere in his way to his lover, and was surprised to see Blaine standing there, his face pale, his eyes unbelieving. Word of Sam’s return had reached him too, and he had not been able to resist the need of checking for himself if he could dare to believe.

Sam didn’t know how to proceed, as Blaine seemed to be in some kind of shock. So he just brought his hand to Blaine’s face and cupped his cheek tenderly, feeling Blaine starting to shake and tears flooding his eyes.

“Blaine?” Sam asked tentatively, and his voice finally got Blaine to react and he threw himself at Sam’s arms, still not able to say a word.

Sam encircled Blaine’s body with his arms lovingly, reassuringly, and Blaine just clung to him with a death grip, as if he was not letting him go ever again.

“Here, easy, I’ve got you now” he whispered in Blaine’s ear. He knew their embrace could be seen by anyone passing by, and that it was a little too intimate to be just about two friends reuniting again, but he couldn’t care less at the moment: his priority was the vulnerable elf in his arms, and helping him in any possible way.

Blaine's silence turned into despairing sobs immediately, while his head kept hidden in the crock of Sam's neck. The man didn't know what to do to comfort his loved one, he couldn’t imagine being in his position and being made to believe Blaine was dead, so he just kept fondling his soft hair and whispering reassurances in his pointed ear.

“It's alright, _mella nin_ , we're together now. Everything's alright”

Blaine lifted his head from Sam’s shoulder and looked at him right in the eye, taking the man's face between his hands.

“Sam... I can't believe you're here with me... I thought you had left me...”

“Not yet, _mella_ , not yet. I would never go anywhere without looking at those beautiful eyes of yours one last time. Are you okay?”

“You’re here” Blaine answered, embracing Sam strongly again. “You’re here and that’s all it matters”

This time it was Sam who broke the embrace and cupped Blaine’s cheeks, so he could look at him and see what was in his eyes.

“No, it isn’t. Your feelings matter to me very much too. I need to know you’re okay”

Blaine sighed shakily and took Sam’s hands from his face to squeeze them.

“You’re late” Blaine joked, trying to change the subject, as he was not ready yet to discuss how he was feeling. “You look terrible”

Sam could see beyond Blaine’s pretence, but if he didn’t feel like talking about it yet, he would respect his wishes. After all, he had suffered enough; he deserved Sam’s comprehension, so he just smiled at his joking attempt.

Blaine let go of one of Sam’s hands to pick something from his pocket, and put it on Sam’s hand, closing his fingers around it. When Sam opened them, he found the Evenstar, shinny as ever, and a goofy smile invaded his lips at knowing he had not lost it.

“ _Hannon le_ *” he said simply while putting it around his neck again, though much more was implicit in his words.

Blaine just nodded at him, and Sam brought his hand again to Blaine’s cheek to dry the tears still there, forgotten, bringing a shy smile to Blaine’s lips.

That’s when Brittany saw them: she had heard about Sam’s return too and had run to welcome him. But the scene in front of her had stopped her in her tracks: he saw the way Sam’s hand caressed Blaine’s cheek and how his other hand was entwined with the elf’s. But what really caught his attention was the look in Sam’s eyes as he gazed at the elf: there was adoration there, honesty, love, as she had never seen before. And the look on the elf’s eyes was no different.

She understood that she had been right in her suspicions, and that Blaine was the one in Sam’s heart. But well, that knowledge didn’t change anything: she had already known she had a competitor, even if she didn’t know who it was. Yes, Sam clearly loved him. But even love didn’t have to be eternal. Not if she had anything to say about it. She didn’t have anything against the elf, he seemed nice enough and had been nothing but polite and kind to her. It was nothing personal, but she had to obey her heart. And her heart wanted Sam.

**********

After the reunion with his lover, Sam ran to the King to alert him from the ten thousand Uruk-Hai advancing slowly towards them, warning him they would be there by nightfall. The King decided to wait for them in the fortress, even after Sam insisted to go look for help from Gondor. But the King refused, arguing that Gondor had not helped them in the past, and the old allegiances with the Elves were dead. Nothing Sam said convinced him, so in the end all they could do was to get ready for the upcoming battle.

When Sam finished his conversation with the King, Blaine was waiting for him just outside and he didn’t take no for an answer when he drove Sam to their room to have a rest. And once there, he forced him to lie down on the bed as he grabbed what he needed to take care of his wounds.

As Sam lay down on his back, Blaine sat at his side and carefully and lovingly cleaned his wounds, which were not too serious considering the fall he had taken. Sam was getting sleepy with Blaine’s caring treatment, and Blaine did nothing to stop him from falling into slumber, as it had been his whole purpose from the beginning.

After taking care of the wounds, Blaine took a damp cloth and cleaned Sam’s face slowly, with such tenderness that it almost brought tears to Sam’s eyes, as he was not completely asleep yet. Blaine was not so lucky as to escape the tears, though, as looking at Sam’s beautiful face, so placid in his rest, only made him remember what he had been so close to lose. When an involuntary sniff finally escaped Blaine’s breathing, Sam opened his eyes and sat up to comfort his lover.

“Hey, sweetheart, come here” he tenderly said, embracing him strongly to his chest. “It’s alright” he whispered to him, not bothering to ask what was wrong, as he was deeply aware of it.

“I know” Blaine answered in a surprisingly calm voice. “I just don’t dare to believe you’re here again in case it’s just a dream and I wake up from it to find you still gone”

“This is no dream, I swear” Sam said, cupping Blaine’s cheeks. “Let me show you”

He then brought Blaine’s face to him and captured his lips in a slow and tender kiss, wanting to comfort Blaine and himself that they had both survived yet another difficult task. The elf’s hair slipped between Sam’s fingers as they kissed, and the familiarity and intimacy of it filled his heart more than any words could.

“It’s a good way to convince me that you’re real” Blaine joked when the kiss broke, his face flushed.

“You know, there’s other ways to really show…”

“Don’t even dare to finish this sentence” Blaine reprimanded him playfully. “You’re hurt, and you are back from the dead. You need to rest before the battle” Blaine told him, more seriously this time because he still trembled every time he remembered how close he had come to lose him.

“I was fearing you’d say that” Sam humorously answered, squeezing Blaine’s hand, knowing Blaine still needed a lot of comforting to overcome what had happened. “But can you at least lay here with me for a while? I’m sure you haven’t rested much either”

Blaine smiled fondly as he idly played with the hair on Sam’s forehead.

“You just keep asking and asking…” he joked, but he was already laying down on the bed and curling at Sam’s side, who didn’t lose a moment to envelop him with his arm and bring him closer to his chest.

“And I will keep doing it while you keep giving and giving…” Sam answered.

Blaine rested his head on Sam’s chest, feeling at bliss in Sam’s arms, and absentmindedly caressed the pendant hanging from Sam’s neck, a token of their love. Sam smiled fondly and rested his hand over Blaine’s.

“ _Amin harmuva onalle e' cormamin*_ ” Sam whispered, and Blaine lifted his head from Sam’s chest and looked at him adoringly for a second.

“You just rest for awhile” Blaine whispered, before kissing Sam’s lips tenderly and then nestling up in his chest again. “I’ll stay here with you”

“Don’t go anywhere” Sam whispered back, as he closed his eyes and let slumber claim him.

**********

 _* mella nin:_ my love

* _mella_ : love

* _Hannon le_ : thank you

 _*Amin harmuva onalle e' cormamin:_ I shall treasure your gift in my heart


	7. Chapter 7

Sebastian was getting restless, waiting for his friends. He obviously had given them some time alone, as they needed to come to terms with everything that had happened on the last hours. Poor things, they surely needed the reassurance of each other after such an ordeal. But now all of them needed to start getting ready for the battle that was about to start. And who was he trying to fool? He was dying to see them! He needed to know how they were fairing: Sam physically and Blaine emotionally.

He opened the door to their room and stuck his head in, careful not to make any noise in case they were asleep. But Blaine immediately saw him, smiled at him, and made a gesture with his hand for him to come in, to which Sebastian quietly obeyed.

The Dwarf had to reciprocate the smile at the scene before his eyes: Sam was peacefully and deeply asleep, lying on his back, but the grip he kept on Blaine’s waist was surprisingly strong. Blaine, on the other hand, was awake, his head resting on Sam’s shoulder, the tips of his fingers idly tracing invisible patterns on his lover’s chest. But what warmed Sebastian’s heart the most was the blissful smile on Blaine’s lips. He seemed like a totally different person from the broken elf of some hours before, when he had lost all hope. Now he had something to fight for again, and that hope filled him and made him shine like ever.

“How is he doing?” Sebastian asked the elf in a whisper, signaling to Sam with a move of his head.

“He’s alright. None of his wounds were really serious after all, just some bruises and scratches. And I’m sure this nap will have make wonders for him” Blaine answered, equally soft, his eyes never leaving Sam’s face as he tenderly caressed his cheek with the back of his hand.

“And how are you doing?” Sebastian asked pointedly, and Blaine had to smile again at his friend’s concern.

“I’m fine, Sebastian, I swear. I had the worst time of my life, but now he’s back and everything’s alright again” he answered, but Sebastian could tell there was something else he was not saying.

“For now” Sebastian added, and Blaine slowly nodded. The Dwarf understood how worried Blaine was to lose Sam again in the upcoming battle.

“Yes, for now” Blaine answered with a sad smile.

“Well, I came to tell you it’s time we started getting ready. I’ll leave you to wake him up and I’ll see you later, ok?”

“Ok, thank you, Sebastian” Blaine answered honestly, and when the Dwarf was almost to the door Blaine whispered to him again. “Sebastian?”

“Yes?” The Dwarf answered, turning around.

“You’re a good friend” Blaine praised him, making the Dwarf blush.

“Well, you’re not so bad yourself, laddie” Sebastian couldn’t only mumble, embarrassed, as he stepped out of the room, making Blaine smile fondly at him.

Blaine then turned his gaze to his lover again, and thought that the best way to wake him up would be with a kiss, so he lifted his head from Sam’s chest and leant over to join his lips with his lover’s. Sam’s immediate reaction at awakening was to smile against Blaine’s lips, and his grip on his lover’s waist tightened to bring him closer.

“Morning” Sam said in a hoarse voice, once the kiss broke.

“Not even close” Blaine answered, amused, and captured Sam’s lips again.

“What a sweet way to wake up. Did I die and go to heaven?” Sam joked, but he immediately felt Blaine stiffen uncomfortably.

“Don’t joke with that” Blaine reprimanded him, lifting himself from him and sitting up on the edge of the bed, his back to his lover as he started putting on his boots, just so he had something to do.

Sam shook the sleepiness out of his system and understood how unfortunate his choice of words had been, considering the events from the previous hours. So he just sat up and moved to embrace his lover, sitting behind him with one leg at each side of Blaine’s, his arms encircling his waist and his chin resting on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, love” Sam whispered, genuinely repentant, as he strengthened the embrace to stop Blaine’s moves. “It was very stupid of me to say something like that”

“It was” Blaine confirmed with a pout, making Sam chuckle.

“It was” he repeated, and he kissed Blaine’s neck as a proof of his regret.

“Don’t ever joke about something like that again, please” Blaine pleaded softly, and once again Sam squeezed him to his chest.

“I won’t” Sam promised, and Blaine half-turned on Sam’s arms to kiss him, reassuring him of his forgiveness.

“We should get going” Blaine said, caressing the arms holding his waist.

“Can’t we just stay here and...?” Sam pleaded, jokingly.

“No, we can’t” Blaine was quick to answer, a smile breaking into his lips.

“I love you” Sam told him, unexpectedly. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do” Blaine answered confidently, his fingers playing with Sam’s hair. “And you know I love you too, right?”

“I’ve never had a doubt” Sam answered with a smile, kissing the tip of Blaine’s nose.

“And you also know we have to get going, don’t you?” Blaine insisted, extricating himself from Sam’s embrace and making the latter sigh.

“I hate it when you’re right...”

**********

After they left the room, Blaine and Sam had little time for themselves, as they were very busy preparing the battle that was about to begin, which both were afraid was going to be the greatest ever since Sauron had been defeated so many centuries ago. However, Sam could not help but worry about Blaine, as the usually independent and confident elf didn’t seem to be even close to his usual self. He was very quiet, nervous, and unable to remain separated from him longer than a minute, following him around the fort everywhere he went.

King Burt had given the order that every man of Edoras who could stand would fight. Unfortunately, that included many old men who had never grabbed a sword before and some little kids who still played with toys. They were prepared with armors and swords, while their wives and mothers, being sent to the caves, could only pray for them to remain alive.

“Farmers, farriers, stable boys...” Sam observed, as the three travelling companions visited the armory where the men were getting ready for battle around him. “These are not soldiers”

“Most have seen too many winters” Sebastian added.

“Or too few” Blaine spoke for the first time since they got out of their room. Sam looked at his loved one intently. It was fear what he found on Blaine’s eyes, something he had never found there before, and that scared him to death. But now that he had begun talking he didn't seem to be able to stop. “Look at them. They're frightened. I can see it in their eyes”

Sam looked at him again, confused, half surprised and half disappointed, seeing as his lover had finally succumbed to despair. He had always relied on him, he had always thought that it would be Blaine comforting him if he lost hope, not the other way around.

“And they should be. Three hundred against ten thousand” Blaine went on, almost defying Sam with his words and his gaze, but he spoke on Elvish so the men wouldn't understand him and be even more frightened, if that was possible.

“They have more hope of defending themselves here than at Edoras...” Sam tried to reason with him so he would regain some of his great courage back.

Blaine looked at him as he had never done before, eyes filled with fear, confusion and desperation.

“Sam” he continued, “they cannot win this fight. They are all going to die!”

“Then I shall die as one of them!” Sam couldn't resist it anymore and shouted at his lover, angered about having to experience the same fear he had seen in those beloved golden eyes, but for different reasons. Had Blaine really lost all hope? Elves could die from grief, was that going to be his lover's case if they survived the battle?

He looked at him, and now in Blaine’s eyes he saw a terrible sadness that he knew he had caused by yelling at him when he was the most vulnerable. Guiltily he turned and stormed out of the room, making his way between the masses of men who were watching them.

Blaine, who felt guilty too about taking Sam to his limit, made to follow him, but Sebastian stopped him gently by grabbing his arm.

“Let him go, lad. Let him be”

Blaine decided to listen to Sebastian and let Sam be for a while, so he went out to have some fresh air, the only thing that could offer him some relief of the tension he was feeling at the moment. But even that didn't work. He wasn't sure what he would tell Sam, anyway. That it was fear what had made him talk like that? He was sure Sam knew this, for he had always been pretty good at reading him. He just hoped Sam understood that it was not fear of getting hurt, or even dying, for this he could not care less for it was for a greater good. He was afraid they were going to lose the war, and that Sauron would get the ring and all the beauty and the peace in Middle Earth would end. And above all, he was afraid of losing Sam again, for he was sure he could not stand it again.

On the other hand, Sam sat in some stairs, also deep in thought. He had experienced fear before, having been in many life threatening situations in his life. Blaine had also been in danger some times before too, but Sam had never seen him frightened. What was different this time?

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Sebastian until he was sitting next to him.

“Sebastian, what are you doing here? Are you ready for battle already?” Sam asked him.

“I could ask the exact same question to you, but I haven't come to talk about that” the dwarf answered.

“And what do you want to talk about? Please don't tell me you think is a lost battle too”

“No, I want to talk about the one you cannot stop thinking of”

Sam smiled at Sebastian. It would never stop surprising him how Sebastian seemed to know everything going on around him, even if he was not aware of his talent.

“I can't seem to understand him” Sam explained, feeling the need of talking about it with his friend, so worried he was about Blaine. “He has never been afraid of anything since I’ve known him. What is different this time?”

“That you don't know the answer to your own question tells me that you are not as smart as I thought you were” Sebastian answered, kind of reproachfully.

Sam looked at him, confused.

“Why do you say that?” Sam asked.

“What has taken place recently that scared the hell out of him?” Sebastian didn't give Sam time to answer. “He thought he had lost you. For a whole day and night he experienced his worst nightmare: having to go on without you. And when he finally gets you back, a battle that could take you away from him again is about to begin”

“You mean... he is only afraid for me?” Sam asked, starting to understand.

“Of course he is afraid for you! His own life doesn't have any worth for him if he can’t spend it at your side!” Sebastian was almost yelling, such was his need to make his friend understand.

“I never thought that was the cause of his fear... I should have not yelled at him” Sam regretted.

“No, you should have not. But he will forgive you, for he loves you more than anything in the world”

“I feel the same about him” Sam confessed with a fond smile.

“I know. I just hope you'll take care of him and make him as happy as he deserves” Sebastian answered.

“I'll try... no, I will” Sam affirmed confidently.

“Well...” Sebastian said, and Sam could see that he was close to tears, but his dwarfish pride would not let it show, “we should get ready for battle, don't you think?”

Sam and Sebastian went directly back to the armory to get ready. Sam knew Blaine hardly wore any armor, and only used his own bow and his two knives in his fights, but he had hoped to find him there. He was disappointed when he didn't.

Sam began to dress, putting on an armor underneath his clothes. He had to protect himself both for Blaine and his own sakes.

Having entered in the room without been noticed, Blaine advanced towards Sam while he was getting dressed, and took his sword before Sam could even realize he was there. As the man turned around, he smiled as he saw Blaine standing there, handing him his sword, confidence showing once again in his eyes.

“We have trusted you this far, and you have not led us astray” Blaine said looking at him straight in the eyes, absolutely sincere. “Forgive me. I was wrong to despair”

“There is nothing to forgive, Blaine” And with that Sam embraced Blaine with all his forces, hoping to erase some of the tension in Blaine’s body and offering some comfort to his still troubled mind. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I know it's me you fear about”

“It is” Blaine admitted.

“And you know I can't assure you nothing will happen to me”

“I know”

“But I can promise I will try my best to come back to you”

Blaine broke the embrace to look intently at his lover’s eyes, and then he kissed him strongly, deeply, with a passion born both of love and fear at the unknown.

“That’s all I can ask” Blaine mumbled when the kiss broke and Sam rested his forehead against his.

**********

Sam went to make sure everything and everyone was ready, after promising Blaine that he would see him soon. The elf had a mix of feelings in his heart at the moment: he was glad he had made amends with Sam and they were alright; but trepidation and fear for the battle ahead of them made him nervous. In need of the company of a friend, he went in search for Sebastian.

The dwarf was already dressed to fight, with a strong armor and his axe grabbed with both his hands. He, too, had been looking for the elf, and together they went to pick up the spot where they would be standing once the battle begun. Finally they decided to stay at the top of the entrance, next to the Lothlorien elves, Mike amongst them, who had arrived shortly before to assist the men in their fight honoring their antique alliance –surprising King Burt greatly–, as from there they had a good view of everything happening around them. Blaine was sad he couldn’t greet his childhood friend as he deserved, as talking and joking with Mike would probably put his mind at ease a bit, but he knew it was not possible at the moment so he contented himself with waving at him from the distance.

The night was cold, and the sky threatened to break in a storm with some distant thunder and lightning that intermittently lighted up the faces of all the soldiers –men and elves. They were anxiously waiting for the night to be over, one way or another, fear clutching at their hearts when they started to see thousands of Uruk-hai appearing in the horizon.

“You could have picked a better spot” Sebastian protested in a mock anger when the first drops of rain fell upon them, trying to break the silence and reducing the tension. Blaine could only smile, appreciating the dwarf's efforts.

Sam, not standing being separated from his lover for too long, found his way towards the friends for a moment before the battle started, trying to show them his support and wanting to reassure himself with theirs.

“Well, lad, whatever luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night” Sebastian told him once he noticed his presence behind them.

A long loud thunder resounded above them, with its light illuminating them briefly, fear reflecting in their eyes.

“Your friends are with you, Sam” Blaine told him, without looking at him, sensing that if he saw any fear in his beloved's eyes, he would never be able to get rid of the vision and concentrate on the battle ahead.

“Let's hope they last the night” Sebastian added.

Sam turned to leave but, before he did, he clasped Blaine’s shoulder and whispered a quick 'I love you' in his pointed ear, to which Blaine shuddered slightly. Sam didn't miss the action, and could not help but smile. They had seen so much death and destruction on their way, and still Blaine's innocence remained intact, so much that he shuddered if he told him that the loved him, something he had told him a million times before. That reminded Sam how much younger in Elven terms Blaine was, and he prayed they could survive the night and explore that innocence and youth for many years.

As the Uruk-hai approached dangerously fast, rain started to fall on men and elves. Sam took the chance to harangue the men, to give them some courage, before moving to stand proudly in await. The tension was almost unbearable, and Sebastian decided to joke a bit in hope of lightening Blaine’s mood a bit.

“What's happening out there?” he asked, pretending to having to clean his eyes from the water that kept falling on them.

“Shall I describe it to you?” Blaine decided to go on with the joke; as worried about Sam as he was, he cared about Sebastian very much too, and could not help but pray this would not be the last time he would see him. “Or would you like me to find you an umbrella?”

Sebastian laughed at the poor attempt of joking, glad that if he died tonight, at least he had had the chance to meet this precious elf.

Everybody was silent, expectant, waiting for the enemy to begin the fight. But then a very frightened old men accidentally let go of his tensed bow and an arrow made his way down the fortress. An Uruk-hai died immediately, and all madness broke. The Uruk-hai, angry that one of them had been killed before they had even attacked, began shouting as they ran towards the gates to start fighting.

'So it begins' King Burt, face full of apprehension, whispered from above the walls. There was no turning back now.


	8. The battle of Helm's Deep

“Prepare to fire!” Sam shouted at men and elves at the top of his lungs from his position on the top of the protecting wall while the Uruk-Hai ran powerfully towards the fortress, with a loud fighting yell to make themselves even more fearful and undermine the men’s morale that way.

“Their armor is weak at the neck and beneath the arm” Blaine informed his fellow elves, who were ready to fire next to him.

“Release arrows!” Sam shouted again, and his warriors immediately obeyed, sending hundreds of arrows towards the Uruk-hai troops, killing a good number of them thanks to Blaine’s advice.

“Did they hit anything?” Sebastian asked desperately, as he was unable to see what was happening at the other side of the wall, due to his lack of Elven sight, but Blaine could not take the time to even answer to him as he kept shooting arrows without a break.

Dozens of Orcs kept falling due to the arrows fired from the top of the wall and from behind it, giving the men some hope for the battle (although they knew it was only the beginning).

“Send them to me, come on!” Sebastian shouted, getting anxious to fight with all the commotion going on around him without him being able to participate.

Suddenly some of the Uruk-hai produced some crossbows and started shooting towards the top of the wall, instantly killing some of the elves standing there.

Sam’s heart started going faster and faster when he saw some of the elves around his lover falling, victims of the Orcs’ weapons. Blaine was, of course, in the first line of fire –his previous fear had never been about his own integrity–, well within the reach of the Orcs’ arrows –not so much Sebastian, as he wasn’t shooting and therefore he was a few steps behind–. Sam feared one of those arrows was going to hit his lover, and he was going to watch him fall and lose him forever. But Blaine didn’t seem to be thinking of that, as he just kept shooting and shooting, one arrow after another, never missing a target.

“Ladders!” Sam warned the men, as the Uruk-hai were getting ready to climb the wall with some huge ladders they were lifting from the ground to rest them on it –something that cheered Sebastian up greatly, as he was going to be able to fight, at last.

“Good!” he exclaimed, eliciting a small smile from Blaine.

Dozens of ladders were lifted up against the wall, and Sam knew the real battle was about to begin, as once the Uruk-hai would reach them on the wall, the only advantage Rohan had – which was position–, would be gone.

“Swords! Swords!” he yelled, ordering the men and the elves to get ready to hand-to-hand combat.

Finally the first Uruk-hai started arriving to the top of the wall, and Sebastian took the honor of slaughtering the first one with his axe, feeling strangely satisfied with it. Then hundreds of Orcs started arriving too and there was no time to think, only to fight, to attack before being attacked.

Not a lot of time had passed before Sam lost sight of both Blaine and Sebastian amongst orcs, men and elves, and he could only pray they would be alright, and luck would be on their side that night.

Blaine and Sebastian, though, were still fighting next to each other, grateful for the fact of having a friend near. After Sebastian killed another Uruk-hai, he turned to the elf proudly.

“Blaine! Two already!” he yelled over all the racket from the battle.

Blaine turned to him for a second and smiled.

“I’m on seventeen!” he responded ingeniously, without trying to show off.

“What?” Sebastian asked, indignantly. “I’ll have no pointy-ear outscoring me!”

Sam, meanwhile, kept fighting orc after orc, trying to make the ladders fall to avoid more Orcs climbing the Wall, but as soon as he got rid of one ladder, another one landed on the wall. The number of dead men and elves was augmenting too quickly. He prayed his lover wasn’t among the corpses already.

But then his ears picked on someone counting “ _seventeen, eighteen, nineteen_ ” over all the noise, and he thought he recognized Sebastian’s voice. That stupidity, though, filled his heart with hope, as it meant two things: that Sebastian was alive and fighting, as it was his voice; and that Blaine was still alive too, for he was sure that Sebastian’s counting had to be some kind of competition between him and the elf. The relief of knowing they were still alive filled him with renewed forces and he grabbed his sword even more strongly to kill all the Uruk-hai around him.

“Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Sue?” King Burt asked to no one in particular, as he saw his men fighting bravely the Uruk-Hai.

But he shouldn’t have talked so swiftly, as he was unaware of the explosives being dropped under the wall by a couple of Uruk-hai, which had been provided by Sue. Sam, though, much more prudent than the King, saw an orc running towards the Wall with a torch, and he immediately imagined what was happening, though he didn’t know how to stop it. He looked around desperately, trying to find a solution, and he caught a glimpse of his lover at last –which again caused him a great relief to know he was alright.

“Bring him down, Blaine!” Sam shouted at him, pointing at the bearer of the torch and bringing Blaine’s attention to him.

Blaine immediately obeyed his lover and put an arrow on his bow to shot at their enemy. He aimed as carefully as he could, but just when he was about to shoot, a body bumped into him and deflected the arrow, so it imbedded on the Orc’s shoulder but didn’t stop his running.

“Kill him!” Sam shouted again, sorry about putting so much pressure on his young lover, but they needed to stop that Orc from reaching the explosives at all costs.

Blaine aimed again and shot, this time hitting him in the neck, killing him instantly. But the orc had been too close to his target already, and as he fell down, the fire reached the explosives nevertheless and a big explosion broke, bringing down half of the wall and, with it, dozens of creatures standing on it, including Sam and Sebastian, who impacted the floor with force.

The Orcs took advantage of the situation and started making their way in through the massive hole that had been opened on the wall, while others had crossed the narrow bridge that lead directly to the castle inside the fortress and were trying to open the gate with a battering ram.

With Sam being out for the count for the moment, King Burt took control of the situation and started giving orders from his privileged position, still far away from the battle.

“Brace the gate! Hold them! Stand firm!”

Sam immediately came back to his senses and ordered the archers behind him to shoot at the orcs making their way to the fortress. Then they all grabbed their swords and threw themselves at the assaulters, Sebastian and Sam amongst them.

Blaine, who had managed to stay on the wall –or what was left of it–, refused to stand and watch his lover and his best friend being killed in front of him if he was not there to go with them, so he took a shield from someone who didn’t need it anymore and jumped on it, skillfully making his way down the stairs to join them by sliding on it, so he could shoot arrows without a pause as he descended, killing orc after orc, apparently effortless.

The fight kept on, but the number of Orcs coming through the gate was increasing by the minute, and the elves and men fighting were becoming quickly outnumbered.

“Sam! Fall back to the keep! Get your men out of there!” Sam heard King Burt’s voice calling from above, and he hurried to obey.

“To the keep!” Sam shouted at the top of his lungs. “Pull back to the keep!”

The men started making their way through the Uruk-hai, and Sam caught a glimpse of Mike, still fighting bravely on the top of the wall.

“Mike!” Sam shouted, getting the elf’s attention. “To the keep!”

“What are you doing?” Sam heard Sebastian shouting, and he had to chuckle when he saw him being dragged away from the battle by Blaine and another elf. “What are you stopping for?”

Sam looked up again and to his horror he saw Mike being wounded while trying to get his elves to follow him to the keep. Sam ran up the stairs to him, but he was too late: another Orc came behind him and gave him a mortal wound on his back, so when Sam reached him, he was already dead. Sam sighed sadly and brought his hand to Mike’s face to close his eyes.

When he lifted his gaze from the dead elf, Sam discovered Blaine standing there, having gone up the stairs after him, eyes full of tears for his fallen friend. Sam craved to embrace Blaine and comfort him for the loss, but they didn’t have the time, they still had to retreat to the keep. So he stood up and caressed Blaine’s face with his knuckles for a second before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards one of the ladders.

“Ready?” Sam asked as they both grabbed the ladder strongly, and Blaine nodded, trusting Sam a hundred per cent, as always.

Sam just nodded back and pushed the ladder from the wall, so they both would fall to the ground again and go back to the keep.

“Jump!” Sam yelled, and both he and Blaine jumped from the ladder just in time so as not to hit the ground with their bodies. Blaine, due to his Elven abilities, landed more gracefully than Sam, so he grabbed the blond under the arms and helped him to stand up and run towards the gate.

Meanwhile, the Orcs had started breaking the door to the castle from the bridge and they were trying to make their way in by killing the men protecting it. The King ran to it to defend it, and a spear embedded on the side of his chest, leaving him wounded and weak, so a man took him a few feet away from the door.

“We cannot hold much longer!” the man said to the King, but Sam and Blaine picked that moment to finally appear and take control of the situation.

“Hold them!” the King asked Sam as he started fighting the orcs to stop them from getting it.

“How much time do you need?” Sam asked.

“As long as you can give me”

Sam nodded and looked at his surroundings. He saw Blaine was doing a great job at keeping the Orcs at the other side of the broken door with his arrows through the holes on the wood, so he decided he was needed there and took Sebastian instead and pushed him through a passageway that leaded them outside, very near to where the Orcs were standing but from where they couldn’t be seen by them.

“Come on, we can take them” Sebastian enthusiastically offered.

“It’s a long way” Sam warned him, knowing Sebastian would never be able to jump such a distance to the bridge, as dwarves weren’t known for their agility.

Sebastian hesitated for a second, his pride getting in the way of his thinking. But he finally understood it was not the time for nonsense.

“Toss me” he told Sam, blushing with embarrassment.

“What?” Sam could not believe his ears.

“I cannot jump that distance” Sebastian admitted. “You’ll have to toss me!”

Sam nodded and grabbed Sebastian’s shoulders, getting ready to throw him, when Sebastian turned to him and, with a lot of humiliation that elicited a chuckle from Sam, asked him a big favor.

“Don’t tell the elf”

“Not a word” Sam promised amusedly, though if he had to be honest with himself, he didn’t know if he would be able to keep his word.

So with all the strength he was capable of, Sam threw Sebastian as far as he could, making him land on top of the orcs and making some of them fall from the bridge leading to the door through which they were trying to enter. Then he jumped too, and between them, on their privileged position, they were able to stop any more Orcs making their way inside, throwing them off the bridge instead, while the men inside could barricade the door again.

“Sebastian! Sam! Get out of there!” the King ordered once the gate was secure again.

Sam looked around them, trying to find a way out of there, but they were surrounded by orcs and he didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, a voice that sounded like celestial music to him rose above all the noise to offer them a solution.

“Sam!” Blaine yelled from the top of the wall again, as he threw a strong rope for them that Sam was able to grab, as he held Sebastian with his other hand.

Blaine started pulling them both up, with an enormous strength that surprised even himself. His hands were getting red and raw from the friction of the rope on his soft skin, but he couldn’t care less: he had to get his lover and his best friend out of there at all costs.

As Sam and Sebastian went higher up the wall, Sebastian couldn’t stop being both grateful and surprised at the elf’s strength, as he and Sam were not a light burden.

“Your elf is surely a strong creature” Sebastian told Sam, who smiled proudly –both at his lover’s strength and about the fact that Sebastian had referred to him as _his elf_.

“More than he gives himself credit for. And if strength is not enough, his perseverance and love will do the rest, rest assured” Sam answered, not doubting for a second that Blaine would get them safely to the top of the wall, but worrying some orc would attack him on his back while he was busy pulling them up.

When Blaine pulled them all the way over the wall, and fearing his legs would not support him after the exhausting effort he had just done, he threw himself in Sam’s arms and captured his lips in a quick but strong kiss, driven by adrenaline and the furor of the battle, to which Sam responded enveloping him with his arms, offering support until he regained some of his strength.

“You don’t need to be so effusive with me” Sebastian joked, and Blaine grinned at him before extricating himself from Sam’s embrace and hugged Sebastian affectionately, a gesture that warmed Sebastian’s heart deeply, so he willingly returned the embrace.

“Your hands!” Sam exclaimed as he gently picked both his lover’s hands, by now a bloody mess that looked very painful.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be okay” Blaine assured, taking his hands away from Sam’s so as not to make an issue of it.

Sam was about to protest when the King ordered for all his soldiers to fall back, as the orcs had effectively broken in the fortress at last. So the three of them, as the rest of the warriors, obeyed and ran to the keep.

When they arrived, the soldiers were trying to barricade the gate more strongly, trying to keep the Orcs outside the castle now that they were inside the fortress, and Sam, Blaine and Sebastian ran to help, putting everything they could find against the door to stop the Orcs from breaking in.

“The fortress is taken” the King lamented. “It is over”

“You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it” Sam reproached him, angrily. “They still defend it. They have died defending it. Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?” Sam immediately asked the men at the palace, as they still tried to hold the gate.

“There is one passage. It leads into the mountains” the King’s right hand answered, while the King didn’t seem to know what to do. “But they will not get far. The Uruk-hai are too many”

“Send word to the women and children to make for the mountain pass. And barricade the entrance!” Sam ordered, taking control of the situation when he saw the King wasn’t doing it.

“So much death” the King whispered at last. “What can Men do against such reckless hate?”

“Ride out with me” Sam offered, and he saw as Blaine, who was helping hold the door, looked at him, apprehension clear in his eyes with the prospect of his lover leaving the castle, but Sam chose to ignore it or he wouldn’t be able to commit his mission. “Ride out and meet them”

“For death and glory” the King sarcastically responded.

“For Rohan” Sam patiently answered. “For your people”

“The sun is rising” Sebastian added, looking through the window.

Sam then remembered Beiste’s words from days before: _Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day_. _At down, look to the east_. Beiste was soon going to arrive, and he was going to be their salvation, he hoped.

“Yes” the King finally relented. “Yes” he repeated, louder still to convince himself he was making the right decision. “The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the Deep one last time”

“Yes!” Sebastian exclaimed, relieved, and he ran outside to make the horn sound all over the place.

“Let this be the hour when we draw swords together” King Burt told Sam, and he nodded as their horses were brought to them.

“I’m coming too” Blaine hurried to inform Sam, hardly giving him the chance to protest.

“No, look at your hands, you should...” Sam tried, but Blaine wouldn’t even hear of it.

“I said I’m coming too” he interrupted, already mounting on Arod.

Sam chuckled in spite of himself at the elf’s stubbornness and he climbed on Brego’s back too, as they were joined by the King and his four most trusted men.

“Forth Eorlingas!” King Burt shouted as a cue for them to start galloping, and the seven riders started galloping and crossed the broken gates, killing as many Orcs as they found in their way with their swords, advancing along the bridge as well as they could between the mass of Uruk-hai warriors still standing after a whole night of fighting.

A loud neighing at the top of the hill as they descended the bridge caught Sam’s attention and he looked up: there was Beiste, proudly riding Shadowfax, keeping the promise made to them five days ago. The burden that had been weighting down Sam’s heart all night seemed to disappear as he noticed Puck arriving behind Beiste, with all his men at his side, ready to fight.

“To the King!” Puck shouted at the top of his lungs, just before he and his two thousand men started galloping down the hill.

Sam smiled, and turned around to look at Blaine, whose face was full of hope as he looked back at him, his gaze filled with love and devotion towards him, his heart full of happiness. They were still together. They were still alive.


	9. After the battle

When the Uruk-hai still alive saw the two thousand men riding down the slope with their magnificent horses, they moved away from the fortress to meet them, but they were quickly outnumbered. As they waited with their spears prepared to attack, the Rohirrim just jumped over them and fell on them, mercilessly killing as many of them as they could, turning their odds on their favor.

“Victory!” King Burt shouted at the tops of his lungs when after a while he realized the battle had taken a turn for the best, and some of his men cheered in happiness.

The remaining Uruk-hai chose that moment to escape, as they knew there was no way they could win that battle now, and they ran into the forest close to the deep. But as Beiste had predicted days ago, the trees that Sam, Blaine and Sebastian had awakened on their way through Fangorn Forest made their contribution to the cause, stopping the Uruk-hai’s escape.

“Keep away from the forest!” Beiste warned the men who were ready to follow the orcs running away. “Keep away from the trees!”

And as they all looked to the forest to see what Beiste was referring to, they saw, bewildered, how the trees moved and trapped and slaughtered the orcs trying to pass them by, so the few of them that had survived the battle perished on an even crueler way.

**********

When the men, exhausted but happy, made it back to the fortress after the victory, the women and the children were already making their way out of the caves to welcome them, Brittany amongst them. She ran to Sam as soon as she saw him and threw herself at his arms as he dismounted his horse.

“You’re alive!” she cried.

“Indeed I am, my lady” Sam answered politely, awkwardly returning the embrace, slightly uncomfortable around her now that he more than suspected that Blaine was right about her feelings for him.

She broke the embrace to cup his cheeks, teary-eyed from emotion, and before he realized what was happening, her lips were making their way towards his own. He was able to react before it was too late and gently, but firmly, he picked up her hands from his cheeks and lowered them down.

“The one I love with all my heart made it out of there alive too, my lady” he explained to her, as kindly as he could, but no leaving room to doubt and leaving her speechless.

Sam didn’t feel the need to say anything else and as he turned around to leave, he saw Blaine standing a few feet away from him, but looking intently at him, an indefinable expression on his face. At first, Sam thought Blaine would be angry, having misinterpreted what had happened from his position. But then Blaine sent a loving smile in his direction, and Sam understood that there wasn’t a bit of distrust in the love Blaine felt for him, and he felt so proud that he couldn’t help sending a goofy smile to him in return.

Blaine turned then to his friend Sebastian, who was sitting near him on top of a dead orc, quietly smoking on his pipe. Under his appearance of not giving a damn about the devastating scenery around him, Blaine could tell the dwarf was exhausted and somewhat upset, so he tried to keep the light atmosphere they had created while fighting on everybody’s behalf.

“Final count: forty-two” Blaine announced, proudly, knowing that would awake the dwarf’s interest.

“Forty-two?” Sebastian responded, feigning pride. “That’s not bad for a pointed-eared Elvish princeling. I myself am sitting pretty on forty-three”

Blaine had to fight not to burst out laughing at the dwarf’s never-ending competitiveness.

“He’s not dead! He’s twitching!” Blaine protested, trying not to laugh.

“He’s twitching because he’s got my axe embedded on his nervous system!” Sebastian answered angrily while he moved the axe to prove he was right, determined not to lose the competition.

“Dear friend” Sam told Sebastian, as he approached them and brought his hand to rest lovingly on the small of Blaine’s back. “Do you mind if I steal him from you for a while? His hands surely need to be looked after and I can’t trust him to take care of them himself, so...” he smiled as Blaine playfully punched him in protest.

“Of course, you take care of him” Sebastian answered. “With his hands like this he wouldn’t be able to use his bow, and then what good would he do?”

“Well, thank you!” Blaine intervened, with mock indignation, as Sam laughed wholeheartedly. “You both are horrible travelling companions, you know that?”

“We know, that’s why we are so lucky that you love us in spite of everything” Sam answered, kissing his cheek in mocking apologize.

“You surely are” Blaine pointed with a smile.

“Come, love” Sam asked him, all joking forgotten. “Let’s go to our room where I can take care of your hands before they become infected”

“We’ll see you later, Sebastian, right?” Blaine asked him.

“Sure! I’ll just be here, smoking my pipe” Sebastian answered, and the couple left.

As they walked silently to the inside of the castle towards their room, they had to pass by hundreds of corpses, men, elves and orcs, who were being taken away by some of the survivors. Sam could feel Blaine’s sensitive and inexperienced spirit flagging at such a horrendous sight and his heart went to him. He yearned to grab his hand strongly to offer his support, but that was out of question, due to the injuries in the elf’s hands. However, he couldn’t ignore Blaine’s pain, and he knew nobody would be paying attention to them with so much to do, so he put his arm around Blaine’s waist, as they walked, to bring him to him and then he kissed his cheek, to which Blaine smiled gratefully and put his arm around Sam too.

**********

Once in their room, Sam gently pushed Blaine to one of the beds and forced him to sit down, as he kneeled in front of him and picked up his hands to examine them.

“They look really painful” Sam commented sympathetically, caressing the back of Blaine’s hands with his thumbs as he examined them.

“It’s not that bad” Blaine dismissed his worry, shrugging his shoulders.

“I didn’t get to thank you, by the way. After all, you wouldn’t have been hurt if you hadn’t saved my life and Sebastian’s lifting us to the top of the wall like that”

“It seems like a very small price to pay to keep you both safe” Blaine answered honestly, and Sam felt so moved that he couldn’t help but to join his lips with Blaine’s for a quick but loving kiss.

“Well, the least I can do is make it better, isn’t it? I’ll just make a poultice with athelas and bandage your hands, okay?” Sam told him tenderly, already turning away to prepare it, as Blaine waited. “With that and your Elven healing abilities, you’ll be as good as new in no time”

Blaine knew that Sam’s healer spirit always made him travel with a good load of athelas, the most useful medicinal plant, as it was the most trustworthy remedy to all kinds of injuries.

“Thanks, Sammy. You’re so good to me...” Blaine told him to his back as the human worked, and Sam smiled fondly.

“Says the one who ruined his hands for me” he answered. “Have I told you recently that I love you?”

Sam’s heart warmed with Blaine’s chuckle, knowing he was succeeding in making his lover feel better.

“Yes. But you can tell me as much as you want” Blaine responded, only half joking.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to repeat myself too much” Sam joked, but he could sense that Blaine needed the reassurance in that moment, after all he had had to witness that night, so he hurried to comply. “But I’ll risk it nonetheless. I love you, _melamin_ *”

“I love you too, more than life itself” Blaine answered honestly, apparently lost in his own thoughts, as Sam made his way back to him and kneeled in front of him again, the poultice ready to be used.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked his lover while he was taking care of his hands, worried about his silence.

“Yes” Blaine simply answered, not quite convincing his lover.

When Sam finished bandaging Blaine’s hands, he lifted his gaze to look at his lover and smile at him, but he was surprised and saddened to find some tears in the elf’s golden eyes.

“Hey, sweetie” Sam tenderly told him, as his hand had already found its way to Blaine’s cheek to remove the intrusive tears there. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just... I can’t believe Mike’s gone”

Sam couldn’t believe he had forgotten about Mike’s death –but, of course, the elf surely hadn’t. Even if Sam had never met Mike before the fellowship arrived to Loth Lorien after crossing the mines of Moria, he had heard about him many times before, as he had been a dear childhood friend to Blaine. He could clearly picture Blaine quite a few times explaining to him with a mischievous smile some of their elfling adventures, which were a lot. And even if they had not been able to keep such a close contact in their adulthood, he knew Blaine still held him in great esteem.

“Oh, Blaine” Sam lamented, moving to sit next to Blaine and embracing him strongly. “I’m so sorry, my love, I can’t believe I had forgotten about that”

“Don’t feel bad about it. When the battle finished I was so relieved both you and Sebastian were alright that I forgot for a while too” Blaine admitted, resting his head on Sam’s shoulder, grateful for the warmth of his lover’s arms around him after such a terrible night.

“Still, I should have known you would be grieving. I know he was a dear friend to you” Sam told him, caressing the elf’s hair lovingly, comfortingly.

“He was” Blaine answered, his voice shaky from sorrow. “In fact, you know what? He was the first person I ever talked to about you” Blaine said with a sad smile as he lifted his head of Sam’s shoulder to look him in the eye, eliciting a matching smile from his lover.

“Really? And what did you tell him?” Sam asked, both because he was curious and because he thought it would be nice for Blaine to concentrate on happy memories, instead of those of grief and loss.

“You know, that I’d met a dirty and hairy man who didn’t seem to be able to say a whole sentence without stammering but somehow I couldn’t stop thinking about him”

Sam’s honest and tender laugh warmed Blaine’s heart more than any comforting words would have done, and Blaine just curled on Sam’s chest, grateful for the comfort his lover always provided in times of need.

“On my defense I have to say I only stammered around you, because I was so awed with your beauty and your warmth that I got incredibly nervous whenever I tried talking to you. I was trying so hard for you to like me that I was making a fool of myself” Sam confessed, lovingly caressing the head on his chest.

“And to think you didn’t even need to try...” Blaine answered, his voice full of love. “I was the one who thought you would never want anything to do with me. Imagine a well-respected and successful warrior of the Dunédain, who had been all around the Middle Earth and had seen everything, fixing his eyes in a childish and moody princeling, who hardly had set foot out of his father’s realm?”

“I never saw you like that” Sam corrected him. “I saw you as a strong-minded and brave elf who was still too young to have made his own way and whose father tended to keep on a close rein, which frustrated him a lot. I never doubted your potential, and I was surely dying to help you discover it”

Blaine smiled at his lover’s appraisal and they remained quiet, in each other’s arms, for a while, each comforted by the other’s presence.

“Do you know it was Mike who encouraged me to try and befriend you?” Blaine confessed, his voice shaky again as he remembered his friend.

“Then I’ll be forever in his debt” Sam answered honestly, strengthening the grip around Blaine’s body as he felt the elf silently sob for his fallen friend. “Just try to remember the good times with him, which were quite a few, and take reassurance on the fact that he died doing a good thing” Sam tried to comfort his young lover, and he rested his head on top of his, kissing his hair.

“I’ll try” Blaine promised, letting himself be comforted by the person he loved the most in the world.

“If I tell you something, do you promise to never, and I mean never, tell Sebastian I told you?” Sam asked his lover suddenly after a while as he continued caressing his hair, looking for something to distract him from the pain.

“I promise” Blaine answered with a little smile, clearly intrigued.

“Can you believe I had to toss him, up in the bridge? Or even better, can you believe he was so embarrassed about it than the only thing he could say was _don’t tell the elf_?

Blaine chuckled, and Sam felt so glad to know he had helped and to feel him smiling that he could only squeeze Blaine more strongly to his chest.

“We should get some rest” Sam gently suggested. “We have been fighting all night without any sleep”

“I guess you’re right” Blaine conceded, not in the mood to offer any resistance.

“Why don’t you lay down for a while and let the athelas work?” Sam made it sound as if it was only a suggestion, but he was already pushing Blaine’s body to rest on the bed, surprised to find little objection. “I’ll go and speak to Beiste and the King to see what are the plans now and to see if Sebastian wants to take a nap too, and I’ll be back in a heartbeat, okay?” he carefully laid the blanket on the bed over Blaine’s body until he covered his shoulders and then leant down to kiss his cheek.

“Don’t be long” Blaine pleaded, and Sam could only smile fondly.

“Nothing could keep me away from you, love” Sam promised as he gave one last caress to Blaine’s curls and went out the door.

**********

He found Sebastian exactly where they had left him, lost on his own thoughts, his pipe long forgotten.

“Everything alright, mate?” Sam asked him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Yes, I was just thinking about all this... nonsense” Sebastian answered, referring to the scenery around him with a gesture of his hand. “Is the laddie okay?”

“His hands will be alright in no time”

“What is it, then?” Sebastian asked, sensing Sam’s seriousness.

“Did you know Mike died last night?” Sam spoke out plainly.

Sebastian sighed sadly, for he hadn’t known but he understood how the elf would be grieving about it.

“No, I didn’t know. How’s Blaine?”

“Well, he’s grieving for his friend, of course, but he’s strong and he always tries to focus on the good things. He’ll be alright”

“I hope he will. This journey is taking its toll on the poor lad”

“It sure is. But he’s resting now, which is the best cure for him at a time like this. I came to get you, for you need your rest too”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll find somewhere to get some shut-eye when I finish my pipe” Sebastian tried to dismiss him, but Sam was more stubborn than that.

“Your pipe has been finished for some time now, it seems, and you don’t have to find any place, as you already have a room, with us”

“No, Sam. That room is for the two of you”

“Come with us, please. There’s two nice enough beds. Blaine and I will take one and you can take the other. We promise to behave” Sam joked, and the dwarf had to chuckle.

“It’s not that, you silly man. But I know Blaine will be grieving for his friend right now and he needs you, I think you need to be with him without me interrupting”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sebastian. Blaine lost a dear friend last night. I know he would appreciate the company of another one. Especially someone as important to him as you are. He loves you very much, you know”

Sebastian mumbled something that Sam could not really understand, but that sounded mysteriously close to _I feel the same way about him_ , as he started going up the stairs that would lead him to the room were Blaine was already resting.

**********

Sam went to see the King and Beiste, as he had told Blaine, and they agreed not to start travelling back towards Edoras until the next day, as the men needed their time to bury their dead, take care of the wounded men and generally rest after an exhausting night.

Once the agreement was made, Sam didn’t lose a second to make his way back to his loved one, as he had promised.

When he reached the room, he saw Sebastian friendly kissing Blaine’s forehead, apparently after a good conversation, eliciting a grateful smile from the elf. Sam felt grateful too that they had found such a good friend in those horrible times, especially considering how unthinkable it would had been just weeks before for an elf and a dwarf –especially those two very stubborn creatures– to become best friends. But it had happened, and Sam couldn’t help but to wonder how many good things this war would bring, in spite of everything. A smile broke in his lips as he thought about the best of them all, the one that would take place when it was all over: his bonding with Blaine.

Sebastian realized he had been caught in his affectionate gesture toward the elf and immediately felt embarrassed about it, so he just mumbled some excuse that neither Blaine or Sam could understand and turned to the other bed, where he laid down with his back to them and didn’t make a sound again until his snores filled the room.

Sam chuckled and moved to lay down himself, in a big need of rest and of being close to his lover, to reassure himself and Blaine of the love they had for each other after such horrible happenings. He climbed on the bed behind Blaine and wrapped his arms around the elf’s body, holding onto him strongly and kissing the back of his neck. Blaine just rested his hands over Sam’s arms, grateful for their protection and whispered three words that only Sam could hear.

“I love you” and there was so much emotion in his voice that Sam had to fight not to cry right there.

With that, the elf seemed to finally let go of some of the burden weighting his heart and he sighed. He brought Sam’s hand to his own lips to kiss it and then he closed his eyes in contentment, purring in bliss as his lover rested his own head on the back of his neck and his breath warmed Blaine’s skin.

“I love you too, my beautiful elf” Sam whispered close to his ear, and the two of them fell asleep almost in unison.

**********

*melamin: my love

 

**END OF PART 2**


End file.
